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Barite (BaSO4) D05220.01 |
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| Crystal system | orthorhombic (crystallographic axes of unequal length that are 90 degrees from each other and have 2 fold axes and/or mirror images along 3 axes). |
| Habit | tabular, acicular or stacked, blade-like crystals; also as rosettes, massive aggregates, spheres, fan-shaped, granular, sheets, earthy and stalactitic. |
| Cleavage | perfect to imperfect. |
| Fracture | uneven. |
| Hardness | 2.5 - 3.5 |
| Specific Gravity | 4.48 |
| Color | colorless, white, gray, yellow, pink or orange/red. |
| Luster | transparent to subtranslucent with a vitreous, resinous or pearly luster. |
| Streak | white. |
| Distinguishing features | insoluble in acids; flame tests make the flame yellow/green and fuses with difficulty; high density. |
| Uses | the main barium ore; also used in the petroleum, rubber and paper industries; used to make an expensive white pigment.. |
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