This mineral was historically found in Europe in Bohemia, Saxony, and Cornwall. China reportedly has the world's largest supply of tungsten ore with about 60%. Other producers are Portugal, Russia, Australia, Thailand, South Korea, Rwanda, Bolivia, the United States, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The name "wolframite" is derived from German "wolf rahm" ("wolf cream"), the name given to tungsten by Johan Gottschalk Wallerius in 1747. This, in turn, derives from "Lupi spuma", the name Georg Agricola used for the element in 1546, which translates into English as "wolf's froth" or "cream" (the etymology is not entirely certain), and is a reference to the large amounts of tin consumed by the mineral during its extraction. Wolfram is the basis for the chemical symbol 'W' for tungsten as a chemical element.
Wolframite was highly valued as the main source of the metal tungsten, a strong and quite dense material with a high melting temperature used for electric filaments and armor-piercing ammunition, as well as hard tungsten carbide machine tools. In World War II, wolframite mines were a strategic asset, due to its use in munitions and tools.
Wolframite is considered to be a conflict mineral due to the unethical mining practices observed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.