Baryte

Baryte, often spelled barite in the United States, is barium sulfate, BaSO₄. Its name comes from the Greek barys, heavy: a piece of baryte weighs noticeably more in the hand than calcite or quartz of the same size. It forms tabular crystals, single or in fans and rosettes, colorless, white, yellow, honey brown or blue. Baryte is a common gangue mineral in ore veins and often sits with fluorite, calcite, galena or stibnite. Classic localities include the iron mines of West Cumberland in England, Elk Creek in South Dakota, the blue crystals of the Stoneham area in Colorado, Baia Sprie and Cavnic in Romania, and Mibladen in Morocco, where it carries red vanadinite.