	Mineral Information		Mineral Information

Fluorspar

Mineral Image

The specimens shown above, kindly loaned by Gregory, Bottley & Co. Ltd., came from Weardale, Durham, England (top), China (right) and Saxony (left)

Synonyms
	Flour : fluores (Agricola.) 1546; fluorite; Derbyshire spar ; Blue John ; Flusspath )Germ.), Chaux fluatee (Fr.), Fluorine (Fr.), fluorina, spato fluore (It.), espato fluor (Sp.), marmor metallicum (Lat.),
	Chlorophane is a name that was given to green-phophorescent fluorite in the belief that it was a distinct mineral.
Nomenclature
	The name fluorspar is derived from fluere, to flow, in allusion (a) to a property that readily distinguishes it from other gemstones, and (b) to its use as a flux. The term fluorescence is derived from the mineral because it exhibits the property to a marked degree. "Fluorspar" is often used to refer to the commercial product, and "fluorite" to the mineral.

Source: "Mine & Quarry Engineering", February 1954, from a copy held in the National Mining Museum Scotland, Newtongrange, Midlothian.

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