What is Fluorspar and why is it flying?

For the last couple of years, all things in the critical minerals and gold sectors have dominated the ASX greatest hits list, particularly in a post-Donald Trump trade-war world.

Aside from the energy transition and the drive to boost defence spending, securing Western supply chains and critical minerals has become the single biggest geopolitical imperative, with almost every commodity from antimony, tungsten, rare earths and gallium having its moment in the sun.

Now, a new contender is muscling its way onto the scene in the form of the once-obscure industrial mineral, fluorspar, which has suddenly found itself at the centre of a global supply squeeze.

Until recently, you would have been hard-pressed to find a stockbroker in Australia who could tell you what fluorspar was – this one couldn’t - let alone why the world should care. That all changed when China, the world’s biggest producer – 63 per cent globally - and consumer, flipped from being a dominant exporter to a net importer, sending shockwaves through global markets and putting a rocket under the commodity.

The potential of fluorspar went on full display in 2025, when ASX-listed Tivan Limited surged to a whopping market capitalisation of over $1 billion earlier this year, largely on the back of its Speewah fluorspar project in northern Western Australia.

When a junior explorer adds that many zeroes to its valuation, people start paying attention. And now, a handful of ASX-listed hopefuls are looking to ride the same wave.

For the uninitiated, fluorspar, or “fluorite” in its mineral form, is the main source of the element fluorine – some may be familiar with its added use in water to protect teeth – which in its purest form is highly toxic and reactive. However, when harnessed industrially, it becomes a key ingredient in the most bewildering array of modern and future-facing technologies.

Calcium fluoride, at its most common, lower-grade purity, is used as a blend in steelmaking to lower melting points and remove impurities.

Moving up in purity and expense, the higher “ceramic-grade” fluorspar finds its way into enamels and even cooking utensils. However, it’s the high-purity “acid-grade” fluorspar, with over 97 per cent calcium fluoride, that has governments and tech giants scrambling.

Acid grade for use in hydrofluoric acid, a substance critical for etching semiconductors, producing advanced pharmaceuticals and even manufacturing refrigerants.

The list goes on and continues to grow in importance in the modern world. Fluorspar is also essential in processing nuclear fuel, producing high-