It occurs in the Carlin gold deposit of Eureka County, Nevada as cubic crystals sized between 0.1 and 4 mm, and is of hydrothermal origin.
Frankdicksonite has fluorite crystal structure with a cubic symmetry and the lattice constant a = 619.64 pm.
Its Vickers hardness on the {111} cleavage crystal faces varies between 88 and 94 kg/mm2 and is close to that of the synthetic barium fluoride (95 kg/mm2).
The natural existence of barium fluoride was predicted by Michael Fleischer in 1970.
Later in the same year, the mineral was discovered by Arthur S. Radtke and named after Frank W. Dickson (born 1922), professor of Geochemistry at Stanford University in recognition of his contributions to geology and geochemistry of low-temperature ore deposits.