Baryte with Cerussite from Morocco

Baryte with Galena and Hematite from Poland

The unit cell of barite

Baryte (BaSO₄) is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate. Barium (ˈbɛəriəm is a Chemical element. It has the symbol Ba, and Atomic number 56 Sulfur or sulphur (ˈsʌlfɚ see spelling below) is the Chemical element that has the Atomic number 16 Oxygen (from the Greek roots ὀξύς (oxys (acid literally "sharp" from the taste of acids and -γενής (-genēs (producer literally begetteris the A mineral is a naturally occurring substance formed through geological processes that has a characteristic chemical composition a highly ordered atomic structure and specific Barium sulfate is a white crystalline solid with the chemical formula BaSO4 It is generally white or colorless, and is the main source of barium. Barium (ˈbɛəriəm is a Chemical element. It has the symbol Ba, and Atomic number 56 Barite is the unofficial American spelling. The mineral is also called heavy spar or tiff. The radiating form, sometimes referred to as Bologna Stone, attained some notoriety among alchemists for the phosphorescent specimens found in the 1600s near Bologna, Italy by Vincenzo Cascariolo. Alchemy a part of the Occult Tradition is both a philosophy and a practice with an ultimately unknown aim involving the improvement of the alchemist as well as the making of Phosphorescence is a specific type of Photoluminescence related to fluorescence. Bologna (boloɲa from Latin Bononia, Bulåggna in Bolognese dialect is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy Its Mohs hardness is 3, the refractive index is 1. The Mohs scale of mineral hardness characterizes the scratch resistance of various Minerals through the ability of a harder material to scratch a softer material The refractive index (or index of Refraction) of a medium is a measure for how much the speed of light (or other waves such as sound waves is reduced inside the medium 63 and it has a specific gravity of 4. Specific gravity is defined as the ratio of the Density of a given solid or liquid substance to the density of water at a specific temperature and pressure typically 3-5. Its crystal structure is orthorhombic. In Mineralogy and Crystallography, a crystal structure is a unique arrangement of Atoms in a Crystal. In Crystallography, the orthorhombic Crystal system is one of the seven Lattice Point groups Orthorhombic lattices result from stretching

Baryte commonly occurs in lead-zinc veins in limestones, in hot spring deposits, and with hematite ore. Limestone is a Sedimentary rock composed largely of the Mineral Calcite ( Calcium carbonate: CaCO3 Hematite, also spelt hæmatite, is the Mineral form of Iron(III oxide (Fe2O3 one of several Iron oxides It is often associated with the minerals anglesite and celestine. Anglesite is a Lead Sulfate Mineral, PbSO4 It occurs as an oxidation product of primary lead sulfide ore Galena. Celestine or celestite ( Sr[[Sulfur S]] O 4 is a Mineral consisting of Strontium Sulfate.

The name baryte is derived from the Greek word βαρύς (heavy). Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly In commerce, the mineral is sometimes referred to as "barytes. Commerce is a division of trade or production which deals with the exchange of goods and services from producer to final consumer " When the International Mineralogical Association formed in 1959 the American spelling "barite" was chosen as the official over the older "baryte". The International Mineralogical Association ( IMA) is an international group of 38 national societies This decision was reversed in 1978^[1]. 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 purity or density. Baryte that is used as an aggregate in a "heavy" cement is crushed and screened to a uniform size. In the most general sense of the word a cement is a binder a substance which sets and hardens independently and can bind other materials together Most baryte is ground to a small, uniform size before it is used as a filler or extender, an addition to industrial products, or a weighting agent in petroleum well drilling mud. Petroleum ( L petroleum, from Greek πετρέλαιον, lit In Geotechnical engineering, drilling mud, also known as spud mud (when beginning the drilling process is a Drilling fluid used to drill Boreholes

Large barite crystals from Nevada, USA

The worldwide oil field barytes market is currently faced with shortages of API grade baryte. The specification for oil field barytes is a minimum specific gravity of 4. 2. When drilling wells with a lower specific gravity barytes causes the addition of unwanted solids to be added to the drilling fluid system. This causes slower penetration rates and creates many problems with the drilling fluid.

Baryte is used in the manufacture of paints and paper. Although baryte contains a "heavy" metal (barium), it is not considered to be a toxic chemical by most governments because of its extreme insolubility. Toxicity is the degree to which a substance is able to damage an exposed organism Solubility is the characteristic Physical property referring to the ability of a given substance the Solute, to dissolve in a Solvent.

References

• http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/barite/
• mindat page for Barite
• webmineral page for Barite
• History of the Bologna stone