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Pure fluorite is colourless and transparent, both in visible and ultraviolet light, but impurities usually make it a colorful mineral and the stone has ornamental and lapidary uses. Industrially, fluorite is used as a flux for smelting, and in the production of certain glasses and enamels.
The main uses of fluoride, in terms of volume, are in the production of cryolite, Na 3 AlF 6. It is used in aluminium smelting. Formerly, it was mined, but now it is derived from hydrogen fluoride. Fluorite is used on a large scale to separate slag in steel-making. Mined fluorite (CaF 2) is a commodity chemical used in steel-making.
It is used as a defense against herbivores by at least 40 green plants in Australia, Brazil, and Africa; [43] other biologically synthesized organofluorines include ω-fluoro fatty acids, fluoroacetone, and 2-fluorocitrate. [50] In bacteria, the enzyme adenosyl-fluoride synthase, which makes the carbon–fluorine bond, has been isolated. The ...
Two commercially important halide minerals are halite and fluorite. The former is a major source of sodium chloride, in parallel with sodium chloride extracted from sea water or brine wells. Fluorite is a major source of hydrogen fluoride , complementing the supply obtained as a byproduct of the production of fertilizer.
Blue John (also known as Derbyshire Spar) is a semi-precious mineral, a rare form of fluorite with bands of a purple-blue or yellowish colour. In the United Kingdom it is found only at Blue John Cavern and Treak Cliff Cavern at Castleton in Derbyshire .
Fluorite of the acidspar grade is used directly as an additive to ceramics and enamels, glass fibers and clouded glass, and cement, as well as in the outer coating of welding rods. [5] Acidspar is primarily used for making hydrofluoric acid, which is a chemical intermediate for most fluorine-containing compounds.
Fluorite, the primary mineral source of fluorine, which gave the element its name, was first described in 1529; as it was added to metal ores to lower their melting points for smelting, the Latin verb fluo meaning ' to flow ' gave the mineral its name. Proposed as an element in 1810, fluorine proved difficult and dangerous to separate from its ...
The word "fluorine" derives from the Latin stem of the main source mineral, fluorite, which was first mentioned in 1529 by Georgius Agricola, the "father of mineralogy". He described fluorite as a flux—an additive that helps melt ores and slags during smelting. [1] [2] Fluorite stones were called schone flusse in the German of the time ...