Introduction

Baryte (BaSO₄) is the principal ore of barium, which is an essential additive in drilling mud formation. Baryte is an important weighing ingredient and its usefulness as an additive in drilling mud is in the fact that when ground or crushed and added to the fluid, it increases the density of the fluid to counteract formation of pressure as well as provide density to the drilling bit.

Baryte, the most common barium mineral, occurs principally as a gangue mineral in the hydrothermal, metalliferous veins, which have formed at moderate to low temperature, in rare cases forming the major constituent of the veins.

Baryte is often associated with fluorite, calcite, side rate, dolomite, quartz, galena, magnetite etc. It is widely distributed in vein, lenses, levity fillings or replacement deposit. In limestone, it is formed by either hypogene or groundwater solutions. As a result of its insolubility, it often occurs in the residual clay deposits resulting from the weathering of limestone. Most of the Nigeria occurring Baryte deposits are associated with cretaceous sandstone where they appear to in-fill fractures.