7 
Report No. 953, Geological Survey, Department of Mines, page 34. 
BARITE. 
Barite is a natural sulphate of barium. It is of high specific 
gravity—4-5, as compared with quartz, for example, which has 
a specific gravity of about 2*65. It is usually white or nearly 
so when pure, but it is often found stained by iron oxide and 
other impurities. This mineral is also known by the following 
names; barytes, heavy spar, lead bloom, and cawk. 
INDUSTRIAL USES. 
Paint making. Barite is used for three purposes by paint 
manufacturers. 
1. As a “filler” for white lead and other paints. It was 
first employed purely as an adulterant both on account of its 
weight and its cheapness as compared with the white lead with 
which it was mixed. Later it was recognized that it had prop 
erties which gave to the paint certain advantages. For ex 
ample, the fine angular grains were found to give to the surface 
of the paint a “tooth” which offered a good bond to subsequent 
coats. It also adds to the life of the paint, since it is unaffected 
by weather and chemical fumes. 
2. As a vehicle for colour in paint making. In “The Barytes 
Deposits of Lake Ainslie and North Cheticamp, N.S.,” 1 Henry 
S. Poole says: “The fitness of barytes as a pigment is due not 
merely to its weight and absence of colour, but to its aptitude 
to take colour-stain uniformly and make a small quantity of a 
decided colour cover much surface, a property not equally borne 
by other white substances, such as gypsum and marble, which 
the manufacturers of barytes for the market find it desirable 
to remove by special treatment. Barytes acts as a base for 
aniline and certain other pigments.” 
3. For putty making. Putty is often made by simply 
mixing whiting and linseed oil to the consistency of dough. By 
substituting barite for part of the whiting a lesser quantity of oil 
may be used to produce the same bulk, thus saving on the price 
of oil.