Search Mineralpedia – A Mineral Photo Database and Identification Guide
Still commonly spelled barite, although officially spelled Baryte, this mineral is named for the Greek words barys or baros, meaning “heavy” or “weight,” respectively, in reference to the mineral’s high specific gravity. Baryte is the most common barium mineral and can be found as a gangue mineral in hydrothermal veins, in residual weathered barite-bearing limestone deposits, as an accessory in igneous rocks, in carbonatites, and as a primary constituent of submarine volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits and sea-floor chimneys. There are thousands of localities for Baryte worldwide. Can be thermoluminescent, and may fluoresce and phosphoresce a cream color to various spectral colors under ultraviolet light.
Ref. Handbook of Mineralogy, Anthony et al (1995) and MSA at http://www.handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/baryte.pdf
