Baryte or barite is a moderately soft crystalline mineral form of barium sulphate (BaSO4).
RESOURCES: 86.67 million tonnes
The Mangampet deposit in Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh is the single largest barytes
deposit in the world. By grades, 64% resources are of Oil-well drilling grade followed by 6% of
Chemical grade (Chemical-A & Chemical-B), 1% of Paint grade and 27% constitute low grade.
Andhra Pradesh alone accounts for 92% of the country's barytes resources. Somall resources are
reported in Rajasthan, Telangana, Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh.
Uses:
Oil and Gas Drilling: Approximately, 80% barytes produced worldwide is used for oil and gas
drilling as a weighting agent in the drill mud, primarily to prevent the explosive release of gas
and oil during drilling and to remove the cutting from the bits, transport cutting to the surface to
reduce the friction in the drilling string, control pressure, prevent blow-out and at the same time
to provide lubrication. Weighting agents are used to increase the density of the drilling fluid to
efficiently control oil and gas well throughout the drilling operation. The common weighting
agents used in drilling applications are calcium carbonate, barite, ilmenite, manganese tetroxide
(Micromax), and hematite. Because of the good properties and low cost, barite is the most widely
used weighting agent due to its unique physical and chemical properties like heaviness, high
specific gravity, chemical and physical inertness, very low solubility and magnetic neutrality.
Chemical
Major barium chemicals obtained from barites are carbonate, chloride, oxide, hydroxide, nitrate,
peroxide and sulphate. Barium carbonate is used in Glass Industry as a flux to add brilliance &
clarity in electro-ceramics and for removing inconvenient impurities in phosphoric acid.
Barium sulphate is used as extender and filler in Paint, Rubber and Paper Industries.
White pigment is manufactured from barytes.
In glass manufacturing, barytes is added to the glass melt for making the glass more workable
and enhancing its brilliance.
Barytes is also used in concrete aggregate as an absorber of gamma and X-Ray radiation required
for reactor shielding.
In medicine, it is used in radio diagnosis to highlight the abnormalities in internal body parts
Crystal Structure:
Almost regular tetrahedrons of SO4 with O-atoms on the corners and the S-atom in the center,
bonded with Ba/Sr atom. Barite crystals thus have an extremely symmetrical structure.
SO4 tetrahedra (yellow), BaO8 polyhedra (green), Oxygen (red)
CELESTINE, or CELESTITE, a name applied to native strontium sulphate (SrSO4), Celestine
crystallizes in the orthorhombic system, being isomorphous with barytes.
CELESTINE
Action of Heat:
BaSO4 melts at 1580◦C, however prior to melting, it decomposes. The decomposition reaction
occurs from about 1100◦C to 1150◦C: BaSO4 −→ BaO + SO2 + 1/2 O2.
