From villain to dividend — the fluorite hiding in tungsten skarns
Updated: Sep 17
In Part 2, fluorite was the villain — the calcium look-alike that makes a tungsten concentrate so hard to clean. But fluorite (fluorspar) is itself a critical mineral. So the question writes itself: if you can separate it, is the troublemaker actually a second product? The literature says yes — with conditions. Here is the evidence, sourced.
Samso Insights | Research Note | Understanding Tungsten - Part 3 | Samso Geology Series |
WHAT THIS PIECE COVERS One mineral, two destinies, and why the villain of Part 1 is worth a second look. What fluorite is, and why it is worth recovering at all. A critical mineral with a concentrated supply chain. The same fluids build both minerals, which is why they sit together. One separation, two saleable concentrates. What the published work actually demonstrates, and where it comes from. Grade is the whole game, and the gap between metspar and acidspar is wide. What OD6's Quinn project shows, and what it does not. |
1.00 — THE PIVOT
One mineral, two destinies
As we conclude the Understanding Tungsten series, we come to balance out the view of why the skarn tungsten deposits dominate the space. In Part 2, we talked about the issues of processing tungsten with "contaminants" complicating the discussion. Everything in Part 2 treated fluorite (CaF₂) as the enemy, being the main gangue mineral whose surface is so close to scheelite's that fatty acids float both, diluting the tungsten concentrate. That is all true.
