Description

Barite or Baryte is a mineral consisting of Barium sulfate and is generally white or colorless. The baryte group consists of baryte, celestine, anglesite and anhydrite. Baryte commonly occurs in lead-zinc veins in limestones, in hot spring deposits, and with hematite ore. It is used in the manufacture of paints and paper. Although Barite contains a ‘heavy’ metal, Barium, it is not considered to be a toxic chemical because of its extreme insolubility.

Calcite is a Carbonate mineral that is most widely distributed on the Earth’s surface.  It is a common constituent of sedimentary rocks with Limestone in particular.  A Calcite formation can take on many different shapes and sizes which is dependent on the location, ground water occurrence and temperature.  Calcite is usually white or colorless but can be gray, red, yellow, green, blue, violet, brown or black.  The deeper the color is usually indicative of the definitive impurities from the earth or water.