Barite

Tom Loomis

Dakota Matrix Minerals

  

  

This specimen is mostly crystalline garnet (etched). It has vugs with water clear crystals of barite to 1 cm and it also has a very few scattered (less than 1 mm) crystals of scheelite. This sort of material was generally confined to the various diopside rich skarns found in the mine. The matrix consists of garnet, magnetite and diopside.

  

This specimen has lustrous crystals of barite to 0.5 cm across. It also has some scattered grains of a mineral that fluoresces bright yellow under SW UV light suggesting scheelite. The grains are quite small however at less than 1/2 mm so no analysis was performed - only the presence noted. Barite was a common species at the mine but surprisingly uncommon as fine crystals.

  

  

Barite on hematite

  

This specimen has abundant flat lying crystals of lustrous barite to 5 mm across. It is also host to large hematite crystals. Under SW UV light there was a bright yellow fluorescence that may indicate the presence of small scheelite grains. No analysis was performed to support this tentative identification but the fluorescence is consistent with scheelite.

Origin: Långban, Sweden

Harry von Eckermann Collection

Sample size: 8.2 x 6 x 5.5 cm (top/2nd/3rd row), 10.5 x 5 x 3 cm (4th/5th row), 10 x 4.5 x 3.4 cm (6th/7th row), 6.5 x 4.5 x 2.5 cm (8th/bottom row)

 

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Barite on fluorite

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