Separating singular moduli and the primitive element problem

We prove that $|x-y|\ge 800X^{-4}$, where $x$ and $y$ are distinct singular moduli of discriminants not exceeding $X$. We apply this result to the "primitive element problem" for two singular moduli. In a previous article Faye and Riffaut show that the number field $\mathbb Q(x,y)$, generated by two singular moduli $x$ and $y$, is generated by $x-y$ and, with some exceptions, by $x+y$ as well. In this article we fix a rational number $\alpha \ne0,\pm1$ and show that the field $\mathbb Q(x,y)$ is generated by $x+\alpha y$, with a few exceptions occurring when $x$ and $y$ generate the same quadratic field over $\mathbb Q$. Together with the above-mentioned result of Faye and Riffaut, this gives a drastic generalization of a theorem due to Allombert et al. (2015) about solution of linear equations in singular moduli.