Fluorite is one of the common non-metallic minerals, also known as fluorspar, with the chemical formula CaF2. It is widely used in metallurgy, chemical industry, ceramics, glass, and foundry industries.

Fluorite ore beneficiation ◆ Flotation method

The ore types of fluorite can be divided into single fluorite type, quartz-fluorite type, calcite-fluorite type, carbonate-fluorite type, sulfide-fluorite type, barite- Fluorite type, siliceous rock fluorite type, etc.

Flotation is currently widely used in fluorspar mines at home and abroad, and is the main beneficiation method to obtain high-quality fluorspar concentrate.

Quartz type fluorspar mineral processing

Quartz-type fluorite ore is mainly composed of fluorite and quartz, with only a small amount of calcite, barite and sulfide. The key to its selection is mainly to reduce silicon in the concentrate.

To separate quartz and fluorspar, the appropriate grinding fineness must be determined, and the quartz and fluorspar can be separated into monomers through the grinding operation. It is recommended to adopt the stage grinding-stage flotation process, which can not only reduce the silicon content in the fluorspar concentrate after flotation, but also increase the recovery rate of the fluorspar concentrate.

Carbonate type fluorspar mineral processing

The main minerals of carbonate fluorite ore are fluorite and calcite, and some contain a small amount of quartz. Sometimes they can form quartz-calcite-fluorite type ore.

The difficulty in beneficiating calcite-containing fluorite ore is that both calcite and fluorite are calcium-containing minerals with similar surface physical and chemical properties. Interconversion between minerals is prone to occur when they coexist in solution. To achieve the separation of calcite and fluorite, the pH value of the slurry must be adjusted and a collector must be used to achieve a good separation effect.

Barite type fluorite mineral processing

The main minerals of barite-type fluorite ore are barite and fluorite, and the barite content is generally 10%-40%. This type of ore is often accompanied by sulfide minerals such as pyrite, galena, and sphalerite.

Flotation of barite-type fluorite generally requires adjusting the pH value of the slurry through the mixed flotation process and Na2CO3, using oleic acid and water glass as collectors and inhibitors respectively to obtain a mixed concentrate of fluorite and barite. ore, and then separate barite and fluorite through flotation.