Barite

Barite is the only commercial source of barium and barium compounds.

It has many industrial uses as well as being used in Barium meals for X-ray examinations.

Many deposits in the Flinders Ranges are related to diapirs. (One simple definition of a diapir is ‘A domed rock formation in which a core of rock has moved upward to pierce the overlying strata’).

Barite Mines in the Flinders Ranges: Oraparinna and Dunbar

  • The barite mine at Oraparinna is Australia’s largest supplier of industrial grade barite.
  • Over 400 000 t of barite have been produced from the dozen or so individual deposits associated with the Oraparinna Diapir.
  • A related deposit is worked commercially at Dunbar, about 15 km from Oraparinna.
  • Oraparinna also has small deposits of asbestos.

Resource

South Australian Government: Minerals http://www.minerals.dmitre.sa.gov.au/geological_survey_of_sa/geology/commodities/barite