This report describes sixty known barite deposits in New Mexico and covers briefly twentyfour other miscellaneous occurrences in which barite has been reported as a minor coproduct or gangue constituent. History and production of barite in the state, types of occurrences, mineralogy, uses, and grade specifications are discussed.Total recorded production of barite in New Mexico up to and including 1962 was 36,118 tons mined in nine of the state's thirty-two counties. However, 96.5 per cent of the total was obtained from a single deposit, the Mex-Tex mine in Socorro County.Sixty-eight character samples were taken of barite exposed in various deposits, and four larger samples were collected for beneficiation tests. Bench-scale flotation tests yielded marketable-grade barite with indicated recoveries ranging from about 40 to 84 per cent. Because many barite deposits in the state are barite-fluorite complexes, concentration tests were also made for fluorite. Acidgrade fluorspar was obtained in tests on three samples in quantities indicating that 53 to 78 per cent of the fluorite present in an ore could be recovered.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.