By: Ben Elick
Physical Properties
Chemistry: BaSO4
Composition: Barium
sulfate
Group: Barite
Crystal system: Orthorhombic
Crystal Structure: Tabular
crystals
Fracture:
Uneven
Hardness: 3 to 3.5
Specific gravity:
4.3-5
Streak: White
Color: Clear,
bluish, yellow, brown, reddish
Luster: Vitreous
Cleavage: Perfect basal
and prismatic
A Barite Haiku
Being somewhat soft
Varieties can fluoresce
It’s orthorhombic
Barite, which is the
acceptable spelling of this mineral in the United States, but spelled “baryte”
in the UK, is an interesting mineral. It is appealing to the eye and is featured
in rock shops and museums. Barite is the ore of barium metal.
Barite has several
practical uses. In the petroleum industry, it is crushed and used as an additive
to mud that is poured into wells to support the weight of drilling tools and to
flush away rock chips from the drill head and bring them to the surface for
geologists to inspect. Barite’s high specific gravity also helps by increasing
the pressure when drilling through high-pressure zones of rock. Barium is used
in aggregates to make a strong cement. Barite is commonly ground up and used as
a filler in paper, paint, cosmetics, linoleum, and other industrial products. Barite
increases the brilliance of glass. Barium also used a medical application with
X-rays and diagnosing certain medical conditions.
This mineral can occur in
a broad range of colors. These include colorless, blue, yellow, red, and green.
Black barite, which is colored by inclusions, is uncommon. Some varieties even
fluoresce under ultraviolet light. Another property is that barite is mostly insoluble
in all acids. It is slightly soluble in sulfuric acid.
Barite can occur with
lead, silver, and antimony sulfides in hydrothermal veins ranging from medium
to low temperatures.
This piece of blue barite
has small interweaving crystals
and was collected on the plains near Hartsel
Colorado USA.
A Ben Elick specimen, photo by Ben Elick.
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About the author: Ben Elick is in the 6th grade and has been a member of the Pikes Peak Pebble Pups for several years.