Barium

minerals

baryte

witherite

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Formula: Ba
Barium is an alkaline earth element which does not occur in the native state. It occurs most commonly as baryte and witherite. It usually exists as a divalent ion, Ba2+, in its compounds. Abundance in the Earth’s crust is 425 parts per million by weight, 41 parts per million by moles.
barium is commercially obtained from the electrolysis of molten barium chloride, BaCl2 (ChC).

Specific gravity: 3.59
Colour: Silvery white
Melting point: 725oC
Boiling point: 1897oC

Barium-bearing minerals include:

Halides
bøgvadite

Carbonates
barytocalcite
benstonite
burbankite
cordylite
cordylite-(Ce)
cordylite-(La)
ewaldite
khanneshite
kukharenkoite-(Ce)
kukharenkoite-(La)
mckelveyite-(Y)
witherite

Sulphates
baryte

Selenites
guilleminite

Phosphates
alforsite
bergenite
krasnovite
loomisite
mengeite
penikisite
rimkorolgite
uranocircite

Arsenates
bariopharmacosiderite

Vanadates
pandoraite-Ba
vésigniéite

Nesosilicates
zadovite

Sorosilicates
barylite
bornemanite
cámaraite
hejtmanite

Cyclosilicates
muirite
pabstite
strontiojoaquinite
taramellite
tienshanite
titantaramellite
traskite
walstromite

Phyllosilicates
gillespite
kinoshitalite
leucosphenite
macdonaldite
sanbornite

Tectosilicates
banalsite
celsian
edingtonite
verplanckite

Unclassified Silicates
hyalotekite
pellyite

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