[Rockhounds] HF in nature

[Alan Goldstein]

An acquaintance told me the story that in the 1960s or 70s (don't remember for sure), a couple of mineral collectors rappelled into the Ballard Mine, Baxter Springs, Kansas in the old Tri-state Lead-Zinc district. They wore rubber face masks and brought oxygen because of the potential for anoxic conditions. They collected for a while, but at one point they stopped and rushed back to the surface. Apparently, HF vapor started dissolving the rubber/latex components of their breathing apparatus!

Alan

-----Original Message-----
From: Rockhounds <rockhounds-bounces at rockhounds.drizzle.com> On Behalf Of Mike Flannigan
Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2020 6:13 PM
To: rockhounds at rockhounds.drizzle.com
Subject: Re: [Rockhounds] BASIC geo-chem question...


I was going to say that HF does not occur naturally in nature, but this article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrofluoric_acid
says I am wrong about that.

It says:
Hydrofluoric acid can be found in nature, having been released in a volcanic eruption.



Mike


On 1/28/20 2:00 PM, rockhounds-request at rockhounds.drizzle.com wrote:
> I live in an area where the rock units are largely sedimentary and 
> specifically, for the most part, limestone. Within the limestone there 
> is? not a LOT of variety of minerals, but often we find Fluorite. I 
> understand that minerals can precipitate and form in the ooze of the 
> sediment by concentration, chemical reactions, salinity, and ph. What 
> I am curious about is, was the fluorite always present in diluted 
> amounts in the limestone, or where did the fluorine originate? Was it 
> present as HF and reacted with the Ca of the limestone?? Just curious 
> if anyone has any knowledge of this. NOT looking for an absolute, but 
> perhaps a predominance of occurrence??


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