Rutile is a common mineral in many types of ore deposits and can carry chemical or isotopic information about the ore formation. For closer understanding of this information, the mechanisms of incorporation of minor elements should be known. In this work, we have investigated natural rutile crystals with elevated concentration of WO 3 (up to 17.7 wt.%), Cr 2 O 3,tot (7.5), V 2 O 3,tot (4.1), FeO tot (7.3), and other metals. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) on rutile on the Fe K, Cr K, V K, and W L 1 and L 3 edges shows that all cations are coordinated octahedrally. The average oxidation state of V is +3.8, that of Cr near +4. Shell-by-shell fitting of the W L 3 EXAFS data show that W resides in the rutile structure. Raman spectroscopy excluded the possibility of hydrogen as a chargecompensating species. High-resolution TEM and electron diffraction confirm this conclusion as the entire inspected area consists of rutile single crystal with variable amount of metals other than Ti. Our results show that rutile or its precursors can be efficient vehicles for tungsten in sedimentary rocks, leading to their enrichment in W and possibly later fertility This is the peer-reviewed, final accepted version for American Mineralogist, published by the Mineralogical Society of America. The published version is subject to change. Cite as Authors (Year) Title. American Mineralogist, in press.