How to Effectively Separate Scheelite And Fluorite Ore?

With fluorite prices rising amid growing industrial demand, its value now rivals scheelite—yet 43% of China’s fluorite reserves exist as associated minerals with low utilization rates. Scheelite and fluorite minerals share similar properties, making separation tricky. We understand your frustration—improper methods lead to poor recovery rates and wasted resources.

The most effective method involves a combination of gravity separation and flotation. Scheelite has higher specific gravity than fluorite, allowing initial separation through shaking tables or spirals. Then, selective flotation using fatty acid collectors and sodium silicate depressants targets scheelite while suppressing fluorite. Proper pH control (around 9-10) is critical for success.

Now that we’ve outlined the basic approach, we detail targeted methods for each mineral.

The Beneficiation Method of Scheelite

La flotabilidad de la scheelita es buena, y a menudo se trata por el método combinado de separación por gravedad y flotación.

La separación por flotación de scheelita resuelve principalmente el problema de la separación de minerales sulfurados y minerales no metálicos, concretamente:

• Separation of scheelite from sulfide ore. Xanthate is used to capture sulfide minerals before flotation of scheelite. When floating scheelite, add a small amount of oxide and sodium sulfide to suppress a small amount of sulfide that has not been floated.
• Separation of scheelite from calcite and fluorite. Commonly used thick slurry high temperature method. First concentrate the pulp to a concentration of 60~70%, then add water glass, heat the pulp to above 80°C, stir for 30-60 minutes, then dilute with water, and float scheelite at room temperature. The product in the tank is Fluorite and calcite.
• Separation of scheelite from quartz-like silicates. Using oleic acid as a collector and water glass as an inhibitor can inhibit quartz and silicate gangue and float scheelite.
• Separation of scheelite and barite. Because water glass has similar inhibitory effects on scheelite and barite, it is difficult to separate water glass alone, and it is necessary to use alkyl sulfate or sulfonate as a collector to reverse-float barite under the condition of pH=1.5-3.0; scheelite is obtained in the tank.
• Separación de wolframio y estaño. También pueden utilizarse la selección eléctrica y la flotación. En separación por flotación, la scheelita se recoge con ácido graso, y la casiterita se suprime con cristal de agua. Separación de wolframio y molibdeno. Primero se flota el molibdeno, después se flota la scheelita con ácido oleico, y se utiliza una gran cantidad de vaso de agua para calentar y seleccionar la scheelita.

Commonly used collectors for scheelite are oleic acid, oleic acid soap, and 731 oxide paraffin soap. There was once a beneficiation plant that used high-temperature beneficiation to select scheelite. The production technical indicators: the grade of scheelite concentrate was 67.03%, the tailings were 0.095%, and the recovery rate was 80.17%.

The Beneficiation Methods and Beneficiation Equipment of Fluorite Ore

Fluorite is mainly composed of calcium fluoride, which is an important metallurgical flux and chemical raw material. As a mineral resource, what are the beneficiation methods and beneficiation equipment of fluorite ore?

A. Fluorite Ore Beneficiation

Fluorite ore beneficiation mainly adopts the flotation method and gravity separation method. The flotation method is used to deal with fine-grained dissemination and low-grade fluorite ore. It is also one of the most important beneficiation methods for fluorite ore beneficiation. The only way to get fluorite ore powder. Gravity separation is used to process the beneficiation and purification of coarse-grained embedded high-grade fluorite ore to obtain coarse-grained metallurgical-grade fluorite lump ore, which is the main method for producing fluorite concentrate for the steelmaking industry.

• Método de flotación: High-quality fluorite concentrate powder can be obtained by flotation treatment of fluorite ore, but the investment in equipo de flotación is large, the operating cost is high, and it has certain pollution to the environment. Therefore, under the premise that environmental protection requirements are becoming more and more strict today, the application of fluorite ore flotation is more and more limited, which also promotes the improvement and application of fluorite ore gravity separation technology and equipment to some extent.
• Separación por gravedad has a very good effect on the purification of coarse-grained embedded fluorite ore. Under normal circumstances, gravity separation can also be used for beneficiation and purification of fine-grained fluorite ore, which has the advantages of energy saving, high efficiency, and environmental protection. In the new type of fluorite beneficiation plant, the application of the gravity separation method has gradually surpassed the flotation method.

B. Mineral Processing Method

• Método de separación por gravedad: El método de separación por gravedad es adecuado para el tratamiento de mineral de fluorita en trozos de grano grueso y de alta calidad, y también tiene un buen efecto en el beneficio de algunos minerales de fluorita de grano fino. Existen plantas de separación por gravedad de mineral de fluorita en Xinyang (Henan), Zhenglanqi (Mongolia Interior), Jinchang (Gansu) y Wuchuan (Guizhou).
• Método de flotación: El método de flotación es adecuado para el beneficio de mineral de fluorita de grano fino diseminado de baja ley, y su concentrado se utiliza principalmente para la producción de ácido fluorhídrico en la industria química. El número de equipos seleccionados en el equipo de flotación de piedra aumenta, y la inversión en equipos aumenta. El método de flotación tiene cierta contaminación para el medio ambiente, y muchas regiones han prohibido el uso del método de flotación para seleccionar fluorita.

C. Gravity Beneficiation Equipment

The gravity separation method is mainly used for the beneficiation and purification of coarse-grained embedded fluorite ore. Therefore, the equipo de separación por gravedad for fluorite ore is mostly plantilla concentrador. El beneficio y la purificación del mineral de fluorita tienen buenos resultados y una capacidad de procesamiento ideal, y varios indicadores de beneficio han alcanzado un nivel satisfactorio. La aplicación de la plantilla de separación por gravedad de fluorita también es cada vez más amplia.

El beneficio de la scheelita se basa en las características de diseminación del mineral, y a menudo se utiliza la combinación de separación por gravedad y flotación. La adición de sales metálicas polivalentes al agua de vidrio puede mejorar significativamente el efecto de flotación de la scheelita. El contenido de sulfuro metálico en el mineral de fluorita es relativamente alto, y a veces el contenido de plomo y zinc puede alcanzar el grado industrial. Por lo tanto, a la hora de desarrollar y utilizar, también debemos tener en cuenta la recuperación del mineral metálico.

Key Takeaways for Maximizing Recovery

Effective separation of scheelite and fluorite relies on a well-designed multi-stage process that combines gravity concentration with selective flotation. By carefully controlling reagents (collectors, depressants, and pH modifiers) and leveraging the differences in specific gravity, operators can significantly improve resource utilization—especially critical for China’s large reserves of associated minerals. For best results, pilot testing is recommended to optimize conditions for specific ore compositions. As demand for these minerals grows, adopting advanced beneficiation techniques will be essential for both economic efficiency and sustainable resource management.

Need further guidance? Consult mineral processing experts to tailor these methods to your ore characteristics.