Barite Photos 
Cochise College               
Photos of Minerals
Geology Home Page

Roger Weller, geology instructor

[email protected]     copyright 2010-R.Weller 

 
barite crystal-brown
Barite is barium sulfate.  Its density at about 4.5 times the density of water is much
greater than for most common minerals, which usually range from 2.5 to 2.8. 
Massive barite is ground to a fine powder and then mixed with water to create a
high density mud that is used in drilling operations to float rock chips up and out
of a drill hole.
 

barite
Photo is copyright free only for non-commercial educational uses.
Just credit photo to R.Weller/Cochise College.