Baryte

BARYTE

Formula: BaSO4 System: Orthorhombic Lustre: Vitreous, Pearly Colour: Colourless, white Hardness: 3 - 3½

Name: Named from the Greek βάρος, weight, for Barite; and βάρσς, heavy, forBarytes, due to its unusual heaviness for a non-metallic mineral. Isostructural with: Anglesite

Baryte Group.

Baryte-Celestine Series. The barium analogue of Celestine.

Typically found as thick tothin tabular crystals, usually in clusters with the crystals growing parallel to one another, or nearly so. Also as bladed, white masses. Baryte, or barite, (BaSO4) is a mineral consisting of bariumsulfate. The barite group consists of baryte, celestite, anglesite and anhydrite. Baryte itself is generally white or colorless, and is the main source of barium. Baryte and celestite form a solidsolution (Ba,Sr)SO4 together.

Names and history The radiating form, sometimes referred to as Bologna Stone, attained some notoriety among alchemists for the phosphorescent specimens found in the 1600snear Bologna by Vincenzo Cascariolo. The name baryte is derived from the Greek word βαρύς (heavy). The American spelling barite is used by USGS and more often used in modern Scientific journals. TheInternational Mineralogical Association adopted "barite" as the official spelling when it formed in 1959[citation needed], but recommended adopting the older "baryte" spelling in 1978, notably ignoredby the Mineralogical Society of America.

The American Petroleum Institute specification API 13/ISO 13500 which governs baryte for drilling purposes does not refer to any specific mineral, butrather a material that meets that specification, in practice this is usually the mineral baryte. The term "primary baryte" refers to the first marketable product, which includes crude baryte (run of mine)and the products of simple beneficiation methods, such as washing, jigging, heavy media separation, tabling, flotation, and magnetic separation. Most crude baryte requires some upgrading to minimum...