Fluorite comes from the remnants of volcanic magma. During the cooling process of magma, the gas-water solution separated by magma contains many substances, mainly fluorine. As the solution rises along the cracks, the temperature decreases and the pressure decreases. The fluorine ions in the gas-water solution combine with the calcium ions in the surrounding rocks to form calcium fluoride. After cooling and crystallization, fluorite is obtained. Fluorite is the only mineral that can extract a large amount of fluorine. At the same time, it is also used as a solvent in steelmaking to remove impurities. The mineral is also used in the production of glass and enamel. In addition, there is a large demand for fluorite in the optical field. Its artificial synthetic crystals can be made into a variety of lenses after they grow up. For example, camera lenses made of fluorite have very low dispersion, so the lenses polished from it have less chromatic aberration than lenses made of ordinary glass.

Separation of fluorite and barite

Fluorite and barite are generally mixed for flotation and then separated. Oleic acid is used as a collector to obtain a mixed concentrate during mixed flotation. The mixed concentrate can be separated by positive flotation or reverse flotation to obtain fluorite concentrate.

Separation of fluorite and quartz

Fluorite is collected by fatty acids, and quartz is inhibited by water glass. The amount of water glass should be properly controlled. A small amount can activate fluorite, but the inhibitory effect on quartz is insufficient. Excessive use will inhibit fluorite. Sometimes, in order to enhance the inhibitory effect of water glass on quartz, certain multivalent metal ions are added, which have an inhibitory effect not only on quartz but also on calcite.

Separation of fluorite and sulfide ore

For fluorite containing sulfide ore, xanthate collector is generally used to float out the sulfide ore, and then fatty acid collector is added to float fluorite. In the flotation operation of fluorite, a small amount of sulfide mineral inhibitor can also be added to inhibit the residual sulfide minerals to ensure the quality of fluorite concentrate.