vein / carbonatite / granite-related
Fluorine prospectivityacross the USA & Canada.
Vein, carbonatite and granite-related fluorite (fluorspar), ranked and explained across the United States and Canada.
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· Australia
Not modelled
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✓ United States
Ranked targets
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✓ Canada
Ranked targets
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Everywhere else
Not modelled
Ranked targets come with national models in the United States and Canada. Next, the models are retrained on the full record and new sources, such as hyperspectral imagery, before we use them to rank and select ground.
How we rank fluorine ground
From a country to a decision.
- 01 · Atlas
Know the ground
The geology, structure, recorded deposits, tenure and geochemistry over the ground, on one map with the source of every layer.
See Atlas - 02 · Open Ground
Find ground you can peg
Which ground is open, held or excluded, read from each licensing authority's own register.
See Open Ground - 03 · Prospectivity
Rank it for fluorine
The ground scored for fluorine, with the evidence behind it and ranked targets in the United States and Canada.
See Prospectivity - 04 · Spectral
Map the alteration
The alteration minerals and the structures that control them, from satellite: regional to district scale, and camp scale from WorldView-3.
See Spectral - 05 · Due Diligence
Check before committing
Tenure, land access, environment and the real cost to hold and test a fluorine position.
See Due Diligence -
Talk to us about fluorine
Partners, investors, publishers and researchers.
The deposit system
The fluorine system.
Fluorine is the lightest and most reactive of the halogens, and in nature it is won almost entirely from a single ore mineral: fluorite, or fluorspar, a calcium fluoride that is the primary industrial source of fluorine chemistry. Smaller amounts are carried in fluorapatite and topaz.
Read more: the deposit model, why it matters and where it is used +
More on fluorine
MineDSS models fluorine through three deposit systems: vein, carbonatite and granite-related fluorite. Each is the product of fluorine-rich hydrothermal or magmatic fluids that concentrate fluorite in fractures, alkaline intrusions or the roofs of evolved granites. These processes leave a mappable footprint: veined and altered host rocks, characteristic geophysical responses and a distinctive multi-element geochemical halo. That is exactly the pattern a prospectivity model is built to read across large, partly covered terrains.
The deposit model
Vein fluorite forms where fluorine-bearing hydrothermal fluids ascend fault and fracture networks and deposit fluorite, commonly with barite, calcite and base-metal sulphides; in carbonate host rocks these grade into Mississippi Valley-type systems, where fluorite fills pore space and replaces limestone alongside sphalerite and galena. Carbonatite-related fluorite forms because carbonatite and alkaline magmas are intrinsically fluorine-rich, so cooling melts and late hydrothermal fluids precipitate massive fluorite with rare-earth, barium and thorium enrichment. Granite-related systems concentrate fluorite in greisen, topaz granite and marginal veins around strongly fractionated felsic intrusions, intergrown with the tin-tungsten rare-metal suite.
Why it matters
Fluorspar is the indispensable feedstock for the entire fluorine value chain, and it appears on the critical- or strategic-mineral lists of several major economies. There is no substitute at scale: almost all fluorine chemistry begins with fluorspar, from refrigerants and high-performance polymers to the aluminium and battery industries. Supply, however, is concentrated in a handful of producing countries, and several consuming nations, including the United States, rely almost entirely on imports. That combination of essential, irreplaceable demand and concentrated, import-dependent supply is why transparent, defensible targeting of prospective ground carries real strategic weight for explorers and for the governments that permit and depend on them.
Where it's used
Acid-grade fluorspar is converted to hydrofluoric acid, the master feedstock from which almost all fluorine-bearing chemicals are made: refrigerants, fluoropolymers such as PTFE, aluminium fluoride and synthetic cryolite for aluminium smelting, and the electrolyte salts and binders used in lithium-ion batteries. Fluorine chemistry also underpins a large share of modern pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals. Metallurgical-grade fluorspar serves as a flux in steelmaking, lowering slag viscosity and helping to strip impurities, while ceramic-grade material is used in glass, enamel and speciality ceramics. These applications span energy, transport, electronics, defence and healthcare, which is what makes secure, well-characterised supply a matter of both industrial and national interest.
Questions
Fluorine: common questions.
Which fluorine deposit types does MineDSS model? +
MineDSS models three deposit systems: vein, carbonatite and granite-related fluorite (fluorspar). Vein systems host fluorite in fault- and fracture-controlled hydrothermal veins, grading in carbonate host rocks into Mississippi Valley-type deposits with barite, sphalerite and galena. Carbonatite-related systems precipitate fluorite from intrinsically fluorine-rich alkaline magmas and late fluids, alongside rare-earth, barium and thorium enrichment. Granite-related systems concentrate fluorite in greisen, topaz granite and marginal veins around strongly fractionated intrusions. The model does not attempt to represent unrelated deposit styles; it ranks ground by how closely its evidence matches ground where samples assay anomalously high for the target mineral.
How is the model tested, and where can I run fluorine? +
Every MineDSS model is tested before it is served: we withhold whole blocks of ground, rebuild the model without them, and check that it still ranks the anomalous samples there above background, with test ground kept spatially separate. A model that does not pass our release gates is not used, for any mineral, in any country. National models for fluorine run in the United States and Canada, with ranked targets. Fluorine is not modelled outside those countries. Skill is model-level, never a specific site's measured accuracy, and never a discovery or JORC / NI 43-101 resource claim.
Which pathfinder elements track fluorine? +
The classic pathfinders are barium, strontium, thorium, tin, tungsten, beryllium, lithium and molybdenum, with barium, strontium and thorium leading. Barium and strontium reflect the barite and celestine gangue of vein and Mississippi Valley-type fluorite, thorium tracks the carbonatite and alkaline association, and tin, tungsten, beryllium, lithium and molybdenum trace the greisen rare-metal suite of granite-related systems. These elements are part of the geochemical record our models learn from. In a run on any piece of ground, the map itself is read from geology and rock age, gravity and magnetics, radiometrics, terrain, satellite radar and spectral alteration, so it covers ground that has never been sampled.
Does a high MineDSS score mean a deposit or a resource estimate? +
No. A high score means its evidence closely matches ground where samples assay anomalously high for the target mineral, and it merits closer exploration attention. It is not a discovery, not a JORC or NI 43-101 resource or reserve estimate, and not drilling or investment advice. MineDSS ranks prospectivity to help prioritise where to look; confirming whether fluorite is present, and in what quantity and grade, still requires field programmes, drilling and independent assessment by qualified professionals.
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Partners
Exploration and mining companies interested in working with us.
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Investors
The record, the models and the ground they point to.
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Publishers and researchers
Geological surveys, universities and programmes whose work the record is built on.
MineDSS ranks prospectivity to help you decide where to explore next. It is not a discovery, not a JORC or NI 43-101 resource or reserve estimate, and not drilling or investment advice.