Barite
Mineral BaSO4
Also called Baryte, Heavy spar, and Barite rose
About it
Feels surprisingly heavy for a pale, non-metallic mineral; grows as tabular blades and rosettes. Fine crystals come from Elk Creek in South Dakota, Cumbria in England, and Morocco, and Oklahoma is known for its barite roses.
- Type
- Mineral
- Group
- Sulfate, barite group
- Formula
- BaSO4
- Hardness (Mohs)
- 3–3.5
- Specific gravity
- 4.3–4.5
- Streak
- white
- Lustre
- vitreous (glassy), pearly, resinous
- Crystal system
- Orthorhombic
- Colours
- colourless, white, yellow, golden, blue, brown, grey, pink
- Transparency
- transparent, translucent, opaque
- Cleavage and fracture
- perfect basal, good prismatic
- Under UV light
- sometimes cream, yellow, or white under UV
Typical values: real specimens vary. For more, see mindat.org.