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Resource Links: http://www.mii.org/Minerals/photofluor.html http://www.minsocam.org/ammin/AM33/AM33_64.pdf

1. Properties: 4. What are the sources, and how is it extracted?
 * Color || White or colorless, purple, blue, blue-green, yellow, brownish-yellow, or red. ||
 * Crystal habit || Occurs as well-formed coarse sized crystals. Also as massive - granular. ||
 * Crystal system || Isometric 4/m bar 3 2/m. ||
 * Cleavage || [111] Perfect, [111] Perfect, [111] Perfect. ||
 * Fracture || Uneven ||
 * Mohs Scale hardness || 4 ||
 * Luster || Vitreous ||
 * Refractive index || 1.433-1.435 ||
 * Streak || White ||
 * Specific gravity || 3.18 ||
 * Fusibility || 3 ||
 * Solubility || Slightly in water ||
 * Other || Sometimes phosphoresces when heated or scratched. Other varieties fluoresce beautifully. ||

The United States used to produce large quantities of the mineral fluorspar. However, the mines in Illinois-Kentucky fluorite district are now closed. The United States now imports fluorspar from countries such as China, South Africa, and Mexico. The fluorspar consumed in the United States is partially derived as a by-product of industrial processes like the uranium enrichment process, the refinement of petroleum, and in the treatment of stainless steel. Hydrofluoric acid (HF) and other types of fluorite are recovered during the production of aluminum.

5. How rare is it? (i. e. how much “reserves”?) There are reserves in China.

6. Are there substitutes? The substitutes are phosphoric acid plants. These plants process phosphate rock into phosphoric acid. They produce a derivative chemical called “fluorosilicic acid”. This acid is used to fluoridate public waters and/or to generate AlF3. Phosphate-rich rocks are a optional alternative source for rudimentary fluorine.

Here are some pictures of Fluorite: http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=Fluorite&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=urhFT7nqL4uWtwfr9tWACA&biw=1082&bih=702&sei=vLhFT4zOMpOEtgehk9mACA