Fluorspar
is a synonym of Fluorite.
Spar is a historical term once referring to nonmetallic mineral
crystals with sharp projections. The origin of "spar"
is from the Old English word spærstan, meaning
spear stone,
referring to a crystal's sharp projections. The word spar in
mineralogy has the same root as "spear." An example of this is Calcite,
a mineral whose crystals often form with spearlike projections.
Today
the term "spar" is frequently used by miners
to simply describe any bright crystalline substance. Most frequently, spar describes easily cleaved, lightly colored nonmetallic minerals such as Barite
or Calcite.
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