STUDY OF INDIGENOUS FLUORSPAR AS METALLURGICAL FLUX

The mineral reservoirs of Pakistan have an enormous amount of Fluorspar. Approximately 1 million ton reservoir of Fluorspar was reported previously and is mostly exploitable. Also, around one third of its usage is in the form of metallurgical flux, a key slag fluidizer in steel industry as it increases the fluidity of slag in the ladle furnace. However, it needs to undergo beneficiation process to get it concentrated before being added into the furnace. In this study, we report, for the first time in Pakistan, that the indigenous Fluorspar can directly be used as a metallurgical flux without any beneficiation process as it is rich in Fluorite and also contains small amount of other compounds that are required to be fed as part of slag. Specifically, it contains only trace amount of apatite as compared to global Fluorspar. The composition of indigenous Fluorspar was compared with standard specifications and a detailed characterization was carried out including chemical, mineralogical, and spectroscopic analysis. Further, indigenous Fluorspar was applied as flux in the ladle refining operation of a local steel mill of Pakistan and results were stated on the basis of degree of desulphurization and different basicity indexe