UNITED STATES MINERAL RESOURCES 



BARITE 



By Donald A. Brobst 



CONTENTS 



Paee 



Abstract of conclusions '^5 



Introduction '75 



Exploitation 76 



Geochemistry 77 



Ore minerals of barium 78 



Types of deposits 78 



Vein and cavity-filling deposits 78 



Residual deposits 79 



Bedded deposits 80 



Resources 81 



Identified and hypothetical resources 81 



Speculative resources 82 



Prospecting techniques 83 



Problems for research 83 



References cited 84 



FIGURE 



10. Barite, world production and U.S. production 

 and consumption, 1919-71 



TABLES 



12. 



13. 



ABSTRACT OF CONCLUSIONS 



Paee 



77 



Page 

 Barite, world production and U.S. production 



and imports, 1850-71 76 



Identified and hypothetical barite resources of 



the United States 81 



World resources of barite 82 



The world production of barite (BaSOi, barium sulfate) 

 has increased from less than 1.5 million tons in 1945 to more 

 than 4 million tons in 1970. The world's estimated total 

 barite production from 1850 to 1971 amounted to nearly 92 

 million tons, but nearly 75 percent of that total was mined 

 between 1945 and 1971 and increasing use is forecast, par- 

 ticularly inasmuch as barite is vital to the petroleum in- 

 dustry, which in 1972 consumed 80 percent of the world's 



annual production. The United States is self-suflScient and 

 should remain so, even with modestly increasing demands 

 placed on its resources. 



Three major types of barite deposits are vein and cavity- 

 filling, residual, and bedded deposits. The vein and cavity- 

 filling deposits of the world constitute large resources of 

 barite, much of which are recoverable as byproducts or co- 

 products. Residual deposits at shallow depths constitute a 

 large resource in the United States. Bedded deposits of fetid 

 black fine-grained barite, commonly of high grade (50-95 

 percent barite), are abundant in siliceous sedimentary rocks 

 of mid-Paleozoic age. The bedded deposits, probably of sedi- 

 mentary origin, are a large part of the barite resources of 

 the United States. Similar large deposits probably lie un- 

 discovered in many parts of the world. 



The total of the world's barite resources in all categories 

 is about 2 billion metric tons of barite, but only about 300 

 million metric tons (15 percent) are identified resources, 

 which are the sum of currently minable ore (reserves) and 

 lower grade material of subeconomic value now (conditional 

 resources). If future industrial demands are to be met, 

 hypothetical and speculative resources will have to be con- 

 verted to identified resources, and this will require con- 

 tinued geological research on barite and barium minerals. 



INTRODUCTION 



Barite (BaSOi, barium sulfate) is extremely vital 

 to the petroleum industry, which consumes much 

 of the world's current annual production of about 

 4 million tons, as a major ingredient of the heavy 

 fluid, called mud, that is circulated in the rotary 

 drilling of oil and gas wells. Barite also is a source 

 for various barium compounds and barium metal 

 whose uses also are nearly hidden among the tech- 

 nical complexities of modern industrial processes 

 and products. 



In the United States, about 80 percent of the 1.5 

 million tons of barite consumed annually is ground 

 finely (90 percent, minus 325 mesh) for use in 

 drilling mud, the circulation of which lubricates the 

 drill stem, cools the drill bit, seals off the walls of 

 the hole, removes cuttings, and confines the high oil 

 and gas pressures met at depth. The latter feature 

 aids in the prevention of gushers, thus reducing 



U.S. GEOL. SURVEY PROF. PAPER 820 



75 



