Barytes, Barite
Formula: BaSO4
Barite (65.7% BaO, 34.3% SO4) is the main mineral from which barium carbonate is sourced. It is mined around the world and generally occurs in beds or as veins. It is found associated with lead ore, calcite and fluorspar (where it can be identified by its much greater weight). The ore is variously colored and can be quite crystalline in nature. Ground barite is quite chemically inert and fairly inexpensive.
Josiah Wedgewood perfected the use of Barytes as a body and glaze constituent in his Jasper ware.
Barite is relatively soft and easy to grind yet has a very high specific gravity. Its main use is as a weighting agent in drilling mud. Muds with 40% barite have a high enough specific gravity to float debris to the top of the hole during drilling operations.
Related Information
Links
| URLs |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barytes
Barytes at Wikipedia |
| URLs |
http://www.olympusmicro.com/galleries/polarizedlight/pages/baritesmall.html
Microscopic image of Barite |
| URLs |
http://www.specialtyminerals.com/our-minerals/what-is-barite-barytes/
What is Barite at specialtyminerals.com |
| URLs |
http://www.handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/Baryte.pdf
Baryte mineralogy information |
| Materials |
Barium Sulfate
|
| Materials |
Barium Carbonate
A pure source of BaO for ceramic glazes. This is 77% BaO and has an LOI of 23% (lost at CO2 on firing). |
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