Barite aka Baryte
Barite is well known for its wide range of colors and beautiful crystal formations. It is a mineral specimen that collectors and rockhounds seek to have in their collections. Barite is easy to identify by its weight, it is a heavy mineral, much heavier than similar minerals. Its name was derived from the Greek word "barus" which means "heavy". Barite may replace other minerals, wood, shells, and fossils. It sometimes forms tufa-like mound shaped coatings or specimens from precipitation of hot, barium-rich geothermal springs.
Controversial arguments still exists in regards to the spelling of Barite. For the last 100 years or so, this mineral has always been spelled "Barite" in the United States. The Mineralogical Society of America spells it as "barite" as well as popular magazines like "Rock & Gem Magazine" and popular books like "The Complete Guide to Rocks & Minerals".
Controversy began in 1978 with new policy decisions from the IMA. From 1959-1978 the IMA (International Mineralogical Association) spelled it as "barite" and then changed the spelling to "baryte" in 1978. This decision was met with considerable controversy and left many questioning the IMA's logic behind the change.
In the United Kingdom, the spelling has traditionally been "Baryte". Most U.S. mineral collectors, rockhounds, geologists and mineralogists still prefer the spelling as "Barite", We at SpiritRock Shop will continue to use the traditional United States spelling here on our site as well. We hope our friends who use the United Kingdom spelling still find our pages and website when searching for Baryte...we will put it in our key words list.
For more information from Wikipedia....https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barite
Item # BARS02142352
Smoky Barite Specimen from the Linwood Mine
From our personal collection comes this very rare specimen that has many beautiful smoky Barite crystals on this plate of Barite..an excellent specimen from the Linwood Mine in Buffalo, Scott County, Iowa. Some crystal tips were chipped around the outer edge during extraction which is normal for crystal plates.
Weighs 8.2oz or 0.51 lb (233g) and measures 3.9 x 2.5 x 1.3 inches (9.9 x 6.5 x 3.4cm)
Item # BAR09163253
Golden Barite on Septarian Nodule from Elk Creek, SD
Golden Barite on Yellow Calcite from Elk Creek, South Dakota USA Terminated Barite crystal with light frosting common for the location. A nice piece for which this location is famous, and it shows well. This locality was featured in the 2008 Tucson Gem & Mineral Show as one of the 50 best mineral specimen localities in North America and the location was also featured in the American Mineral Treasures Book. Very hard to get these as few concretions contain the crystals and all locations are on private ranchland where little collecting has been allowed or done recently. This is one of the early barite specimens from this locale.
It weighs 4.5oz or 0.28 lb (128g) and measures 2.5 x 2.2 x 1.9 inches (6.4 x 5.6 x 4.9cm) the crystal measures 0.78 x 0.5 x 0.39 inches (20 x 12 x 10mm)
Item # BAR10159990
Salmon Pink Barite Blades with Clear Cerrusite from Morocco
This is an attractive Specimen from the ACF mine in Meknès-Tafilalet, Khénifra, Mibladen, Morocco. It has Pink-salmon blades, 18mm, with clear small Cerussite crystals up to 4.3mm. specimen is set in mineral tack on a 32mm polished acrylic square
It weighs 2.56oz (73g) and measures 1.9 x 1.1 x 1 inches (49 x 28 x 25mm)