FreeShip- Fluorspar (Fluorite)- (Prompt rebate on orders with 3 or more FreeShip items!)

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Note that we carry both cryolite (kryolite) and fluorspar (fluorite), closely related minerals, used in enameling and glass art and to a lesser extent in ceramic glazes. Note that fluorspar is a material which should be handled with care, avoid inhalation and skin contact. Unlike fluorspar, cryolite at ambient temperatures is a "safe" material (but at high kiln temperatures, it too can release fluorine gas, for more on that see the cryolite listing).
To see both materials, go here:
{ https://www.etsy.com/shop/NorthernWestStuff?ref=hdr_shop_menu&search_query=halide+mineral }
Here is an sds sheet on fluorspar:
{ http://www.lagunaclay.com/sds/pdf/3rawmat/adry/MFLUO_Fluorspar_2016.pdf }
It gets a 2, 0, 0; health, fire, reactivity on the NFPA safety diamond. If you're not familiar with that NFPA diamond symbol with the 4 colors, go here:
{ https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/chemical-safety/basics/nfpa-hazard-identification.html }

Fluorspar is a "halide" mineral, along with cryolite, which have some similar properties. It shares some of the same uses in the arts community, including glassmaking, enameling, and limited use in ceramic glazes. Some synonyms are: fluorite, Derbyshire spar, Blue John, fluor, calcium fluoride, bluejohn. One property entirely different from cryolite, is how common it is. While cryolite is quite rare, fluorspar is very common. In fact, cryolite is synthetically produced from fluorspar, making a whole industry (the refining of aluminum) possible. The production of aluminum depends on cryolite. "Cryolite makes the extraction of aluminium profitable" (from Wikipedia).
In low fire enameling and glazes it shares with cryolite the properties of being a low temperature strong fluxing agent and an opacifier. And likewise it produces opalescence in glass making.
But in high temperature ceramic glazes with long firing times the volatilization of the poisonous fluorine gas from fluorspar can occur. Anyone who works in ceramics should be aware that hazards like this are possible. If your kiln is inside a studio it needs to have a fume hood. Any material that's new to you should be assumed to be hazardous until you look it up, which is easy to do with the web.
The Digital Fire ceramics database has a great section on materials which are dangerous, here:
{ https://digitalfire.com/4sight/hazards/index.html }.
There is limited discussion of fluorspar used in ceramic glazes on the internet (cryolite has more references). Forums mention that outrageously colored glazes are possible (but not easy) with its use, but that it is prone to creating pinholes and blistering in glazes (which can be used to advantage as a form of texturizing, however).
Digital Fire says of the gas fluorine which can be released at higher temperatures:
{ https://digitalfire.com/4sight/oxide/f.html } :
"Fluorine is considered to exist in its elemental form in glasses and glazes. Its presence is time-dependent, it will volatilize as F2 gas if firing is extended. Fluorine is very reactive.
Materials like Cryolite and Fluorspar present complex challenges to model the chemistry of their firing....Between the melting and boiling points (and, of course, especially while boiling is proceeding) all glaze compounds vaporize to some extent. The amount of vaporization is related to the time and temperature and atmosphere of the firing."

An entry in the CAMEO art materials database { http://cameo.mfa.org/wiki/Cryolite } says:
"A crystalline mineral composed of calcium fluoride...The crystals may be white, green, pink, blue, purple, yellow or brown but all exhibit a strong autofluorescence in ultraviolet light...
Fluorite has been gathered or mined since Neolithic times and used for small carved items, beads, and gemstones. Blue John, a blue-purple fluorite found in Derbyshire County, England, was carved for ornamental vases and boxes. Fluorite is the primary source for fluorine. Because it melts easily, powdered fluorite is used as flux in metallurgy. Fluorite is also used as an opacifier in opalescent glass. Small amounts of fluorite in pottery glazes and ceramic enamels produce a transparent green color but toxic gases may be released during firing. Optical quality fluorite is used for apochromatic lenses because it has a low refractive index and low dispersion. Purple fluorite has been used as a pigment..."

Solid fluorspar can be very colorful (almost all colors are represented) and it is used to make carvings. Having a mohs hardness of 4, it's still considered a soft stone but is more durable than soapstone, alabaster, or marble (depending on the marble, which can be 3 to 4 mohs). The famous "Barber" and "Crawford" cups are multihued fluorspar carvings from the Roman era, 50–100 AD, now in the British Museum:
{ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barber_Cup_and_Crawford_Cup }. Also from Wikipedia
{ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorite } : "In the context of archeology, gemmology, classical studies, and egyptology, the Latin terms murrina and myrrhina refer to fluorite. In book 37 of his Naturalis Historia, Pliny the Elder describes it as a precious stone with purple and white mottling, whose objects carved from it, the Romans prize....Fluorite is allochromatic, meaning that it can be tinted with elemental impurities. Fluorite comes in a wide range of colors and has consequently been dubbed 'the most colorful mineral in the world'. Every color of the rainbow in various shades are represented by fluorite samples, along with white, black, and clear crystals. The most common colors are purple, blue, green, yellow, or colorless. Less common are pink, red, white, brown, and black. Color zoning or banding is commonly present...
Industrially, fluorite is used as a flux for smelting, and in the production of certain glasses and enamels. The purest grades of fluorite are a source of fluoride for hydrofluoric acid manufacture, which is the intermediate source of most fluorine-containing fine chemicals. Optically clear transparent fluorite lenses have low dispersion, so lenses made from it exhibit less chromatic aberration, making them valuable in microscopes and telescopes. Fluorite optics are also usable in the far-ultraviolet and mid-infrared ranges, where conventional glasses are too absorbent for use...
Fluorite gave its name to the phenomenon of fluorescence, which is prominent in fluorites from certain locations, due to certain impurities in the crystal. Fluorite also gave the name to its constitutive element fluorine. Presently, the word "fluorspar" is most commonly used for fluorite as the industrial and chemical commodity, while "fluorite" is used mineralogically and in most other senses...
There are three principal types of industrial use for natural fluorite, commonly referred to as "fluorspar" in these industries, corresponding to different grades of purity. Metallurgical grade fluorite (60–85%), the lowest of the three grades, has traditionally been used as a flux to lower the melting point of raw materials in steel production to aid the removal of impurities, and later in the production of aluminium. Ceramic grade fluorite (85–95%) is used in the manufacture of opalescent glass, enamels, and cooking utensils. The highest grade, "acid grade fluorite" (97% or more), accounts for about 95% of fluorite consumption in the US where it is used to make hydrogen fluoride and hydrofluoric acid...
One of the most famous...localities of fluorite is Castleton in Derbyshire, England, where, under the name of Derbyshire Blue John, purple-blue fluorite was extracted from several mines or caves. During the 19th century, this attractive fluorite was mined for its ornamental value. The mineral Blue John is now scarce, and only a few hundred kilograms are mined each year for ornamental and lapidary use. Mining still takes place in Blue John Cavern and Treak Cliff Cavern."-

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