SCP Mining and Metals - Drilling Grade Barite Specifications

Barite (BaSo4) bagged ready for trnsport.

SCP Mining and Metals: Barite (BaSo4) Typical Specification

Chemical Name
Barium Sulfate

Drilling Grade Typical composition
BaSo4: 84-87%
Cadmium: < 2 mg/kg
Mercury: < 1 mg/kg
As:  < 1 mg/kg
Iron Oxide: < 0.1 mg/kg

Specific Gravity
4.23

Chemical Grade Typical composition
BaSo4: 90-94%
Cadmium: < 2 mg/kg
Mercury: < 1 mg/kg
As:  < 1 mg/kg
Iron Oxide: < 0.1 mg/kg

Country of Origin
Various

77% of barite worldwide is used as a weighting agent for drilling fluids in oil and gas exploration to suppress high formation pressures and prevent blowouts. As a well is drilled, the bit passes through various formations, each with different characteristics. The deeper the hole, the more barite is needed as a percentage of the total mud mix.

 An additional benefit of barite is that it is non-magnetic and thus does not interfere with magnetic measurements taken in the borehole, either during logging-while-drilling or in separate drill hole logging. Barite used for drilling petroleum wells can be black, blue, brown or gray depending on the ore body. 

Barite is finely ground so that at least 97% of the material, by weight, can pass through a 200-mesh (75-μm) screen, and no more than 30%, by weight, can be less than 6 μm diameter. The ground barite also must be dense enough so that its specific gravity is 4.2 or greater, soft enough to not damage the bearings of a tricone drill bit, chemically inert, and containing no more than 250 milligrams per kilogram of soluble alkaline salts.

 In August 2010 API (American Petroleum Institute) published specifications to modify the 4.2 drilling grade standards for barite to include 4.1 SG materials.

Other uses are in added-value applications which include filler in paint and plastics, sound reduction in engine compartments, coat of automobile finishes for smoothness and corrosion resistance, friction products for automobiles and trucks, radiation-shielding cement, glass ceramics and medical applications (for example, a barium meal before a contrast CAT scan). Barite is supplied in a variety of forms and the price depends on the amount of processing; filler applications commanding higher prices following intense physical processing by grinding and micronising, and there are further premiums for whiteness and brightness and color. It is also used to produce other barium chemicals, notably barium carbonate which is used for the manufacture of LED glass for television and computer screens.