Explanation
Also known as fluorspar. Simple coordination type fluoride minerals. Rare earth elements often replace calcium to form yttrium fluorite and cerium fluorite varieties. Equiaxed crystal system. crystal are mostly cubes, octahedrons or aggregates composed of them. They often form interpenetrating twins, and aggregates are granular, compact, fibrous, earthy, etc. There are very few colorless and transparent ones, most of which are yellow, green, blue, purple, black, and other colors. Heating or exposure to cathode rays can cause color changes. Streaks white, glass luster, transparent to translucent. The cleavage is parallel and complete. Brittle, some with fluorescence, phosphorescence, thermoluminescence or friction luminescence phenomenon. It is mainly the product of hydrothermal process and occurs in granite, volcanic rock, sand shale and limestone in vein shape. It occurs in some lead-zinc deposits in large quantities, coexists with quartze, caldte, barite, galena, sphalerite and other minerals, and sometimes occurs in vulcanization deposits or rare earth deposit oxidation zones. It is a raw mineral material for producing hydrofluoric acid, artificial cryolite and various fluorides. The metallurgical industry is used as a flux to remove harmful sulfur and phosphorus impurities from ores during steelmaking. Transparent and colorless fluorite can be used as the original of optical instruments. It is also a raw mineral material for glass, enamel and cement industries.
Classification
Natural materials and products -> Mineral materials