Yellow Barite is highly prized by collectors for its brilliant luster and sharp, well-defined orthorhombic tabular crystals. It is most frequently found in hydrothermal veins and sedimentary deposits, often associated with colorful fluorite or sulfide minerals.
Is this yellow barite?
5-step field checkRun through these checks against the specimen in your hand. The more boxes tick, the more confident the ID.
- 1Test the hardnessTry to scratch yellow barite with a known reference. Yellow Barite sits at Mohs 3-3.5, softer than the next harder reference, harder than the previous one.
- 2Check the streakDrag the specimen across an unglazed porcelain plate. Yellow Barite leaves a white streak.
- 3Read the lusterHold the specimen under a strong light. Yellow Barite typically shows a vitreous luster.
- 4Match the color rangeCompare against the expected color range: yellow, honey-yellow, golden-yellow.
- 5Look at form & habitCrystal system: orthorhombic. Typical habit: tabular, prismatic, cockscomb clusters.
Often confused with
Yellow Barite vs. its common look-alikes, and how to tell them apart in the field.
Often found alongside yellow barite
Minerals reported to co-occur with yellow barite. Spotting these in float or country rock is a strong cue you are in the right ground.
All properties
- Chemical formula
- BaSO₄
- Mohs hardness
- 3-3.5
- Density
- 4.5 g/cm³
- Streak
- White
- Luster
- Vitreous
- Transparency
- Transparent
- Crystal system
- Orthorhombic
- Crystal habit
- Tabular, Prismatic, Cockscomb Clusters
- Cleavage
- Perfect in 3 Directions
- Fluorescence
- Often Fluorescent White, Blue, Or Yellow Under UV
- Rarity
- Common
- Uses
- Collector, Industrial
- Host rock
- Sedimentary Rocks, Hydrothermal Veins
- Typical price
- $10-150 thumbnail, $200-2000 cabinet specimen
Where rockhounds find yellow barite
1 mapped spotsClassic worldwide localities
- Elmwood Mine, USA
- Rockford, USA
- Machow, Poland
- Cave-in-Rock, USA
Field-hunting tip
Look in sedimentary rocks, hydrothermal veins country, the host setting where yellow barite typically forms. If you start seeing calcite, fluorite, galena in float, you are in the right ground. Field specimens usually show a tabular, prismatic, cockscomb clusters habit, so train your eye for that shape before scanning the outcrop. In the U.S., the densest reported localities are in South Dakota. Start trip planning there.
Common questions
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Find yellow barite on the map
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