3.

0
3.1 End Uses and Sharing

END USES

Barium or baryte or barium sulphate is used in many industries for different production processes. Up to 84% of the barite production is used as a weighing agent in oil and gas drilling muds. Drilling muds are pumped down into the borehole during the drilling of oil and gas wells to lubricate and cool the drill bit, float cuttings out, seal rock strata that are porous, and apply hydrostatic pressure to prevent water from filling the borehole . Barite is an e!cellent drilling mud additive because it is soft, easily crushed and milled, virtually chemically inert, has no magnetic effects, is not abrasive, and has a high specific gravity that can withstand high down" hole pressure#. $rushed barite mi!ed with water and other materials is used as drilling mud additive. %hen this mi!ture is pumped in to the drill hole of the oil well which will counteracts the force of the released oil and gas due to the high weight of this mi!ture. Due to this counteract of drilling mud the high e!plosiveness of the released oil and gas from the ground is controlled making safe environment for the drill rig operators to work. End Uses Elasticity: &n average in 'orld Barite consumption over 84% is used for drilling application ()ig* + ,ummary of 'orld Barite $onsumption-. %hus the consumption in the drilling mud usually fluctuates as it is directly dependent on the amount of e!ploration drilling for oil and gas, which in turn depends on the prices of the oil and gas. Thus, a demand shortrun of barite to the present end-users specially Oil and Gas industry appears to be inelastic with respect to price due to higher dependency of the industry on Barite . .ll types of drilling fluids use Barite as a weighting agent with the chemical formula of Ba,& 4 (Barium ,ulfate-. %he most important application of Barite as a weighting agent for drilling mud are due to increase of the mud density up to #./ g0cm1 (# lb0gal-, control the pressure of the formation, stabili2ation of the borehole, preparation of the solids"laden plugs for well control application1.
Drilling Mud - 84%

Glass, Ceramics, etc (Chemical) - 7%

Filler Car, Rubber

!aint - "%

Fig-1: Summary of Barite Consumption by Industry4 ,oftness, chemical inertness, high brightness, low solubility, high density whiteness and relative cheapness of Barite has become the main reasons for wide application of it in many industries. ,ome of them are3 as a filler in paint and plastics the production of lithophone, which is a high performance white pigment composed of a

mi!ture of chemically precipitated and calcined 2inc sulphide and barium sulphate. %itanium dio!ide has largely replaced barytes for this application, but there are still some specialised uses. 4inor uses as an absorber of gamma and 5"ray radiation, e.g. special concrete to shield nuclear and 5"ray installations. 6n the construction industry barites is sometimes added to concrete to increase its density for specialist application. 6n medicine, it is used to highlight problems within the human body. 6n glass manufactures as a flu! and to add brilliance and clarity. pharmaceutical industry (purified barite, which is radio"opa7ue, is administered in a 8barium milkshake9 or enema prior to gastrointestinal !"rays-3 sugar refining3 television and computer screen manufacturing (barite is used in the faceplates and funnelglass of cathode"ray tubes-3 metal casting (barite is used in the mold"release compounds-3 vehicle manufacturing (barite is used in the friction products for brake and clutch pads-3 food manufacturing (barite can be used as a forming agent-3 paper and rubber manufacturing (barite is used as a filler or a weighting agent-3 heavy concrete production (barite is used as a radioactive shield-3 firework production (barite is used to make the colour green-3 and, pond repair (barite is used to stop leaks in lined ponds that cannot be drained-.

The above list was generated using information from the following sour es: !"##$% &''1() *S+S% &'11,) C-.!% &''/0) and Code of Federal $egulations 1&''2324

%he levels of the impurities in the minerals or elements in the barite has limited its application. ,ome of the elements in the barite are fluorine, strontium, lead, 2inc or iron in considerable amounts and will be reduced by blending or treatment:. 3.2 Future of Barite )uture for Barite is unclear since it is highly dependent on the future of the oil and gas production. &il has been e!tracted for ;; years with the discovery of over 4 ,;;; oil fields and e!pected to be last for another several decades. But these fields are enormously varying with the si2e and distribution. 3.3 Substitutes for Barite 4ost of the industry are investing money on researching to find out possible substitutions for maintaining a sustainable viable production process within their industry. ,imilarly barite industry have substitutes also. &ther similar minerals such as celestite (strontium sulfate- and iron ore are considered as the possible substitutes for the Barite used in &il and <as drilling industry ;. . <erman company is producing synthetic iron ore ( hematite- which is proving a good substitute for barite. =owever, these alternatives have yet to be widely used in the oil industry, and barite continues to be the preferred commodity for this application as long as barite production remains strong.

4.0 PRODU
4.1 #eogra$hi%a& Distribution of the De$osits

!"ON

%he world total Barite resources, estimated to # billions tons out of which only >4; million tons have been identified, is conceivable for many years of world Barite re7uirement. %he $hina has become the main producer of Barite for several years due to its richness of the Barite reserves. $hina reserves more than 4;% of the world Barite reserves .

Fig#$%&- Ge'gra(hical distributi'n ') ma*'r acti+e and inacti+e ,arite mines and signi)icant de('sits &-

%he geographical distribution of ma?or Barite mines and deposits are illustrated in )ig*1. above. %here are three ma?or types of Barite deposits3 stratiform, vein and residual. @ein deposits were the most reliable deposit in the past which often associated with 2inc and lead deposits and residual deposits whereas as at present most production were based on stratiform deposits.
.able-4%&/ Ma*'r 0trati)'rm De('sits ') ,arite &$
Country 'estern U,. $anada ,cotland <ermany Bakistan Cussia Brimory Location Aevada .rkansas, .laska 4ac4illan Bass, .nvil .berfeldy Devonian ,hale 4eso2oic $arbonates Remarks 6n siliceous sediments. 6n siliceous carboniferous sediments. Balaeo2oic selwyn Brotero2oic meta sedimentary rocks

%he deposits which are formed due to the barite precipitation at or near the seafloor of sedimentary basins are called as stratiform deposits. %hese deposits occur as large conformable beds within organic" and chert"rich sediments3 the beds lack ma?or sulphide minerals and are the largest and most economically significant barite deposits in the geologic record 4. %he 4angampet deposit in .ndhra Bradesh, 6ndia is the largest single deposit of this type. ,ome of ma?or stratiform deposits occur in $ambrian black shales in the Diangnan region of southern

$hina and the Einling region in the Fangt2e valley where the latter area contains some whiterite and barytocalcite (Ba$a($&1-#- deposits associated with Barites hori2ons. ,ome of the stratiform deposits spread worldwide are tabulated in %able 4. above /. . vein-type deposit is a fairly well defined 2one of minerali2ation, usually inclined and discordant, which is typically narrow compared to its length and depth. 4ost vein deposits occur in fault or fissure openings or in shear 2ones within country rock G. @ein type deposits were common in past for production of Barite. 4a?or vein deposits are found in 4orocco, U,., <ermany and ,lovakia. Ballynoe deposit in 6reland produced over / million tons of direct shipping Barite during :G1 to ::1 >.

4.2 Barite E'tra%tion and Pro%essing

4.2.1 ining

Barite mining process differs based on the type of deposit. $ommercial Barite is mined from surface or near"surface deposits by open"pit or underground mining methods. %his method of mining is practised in stratiform deposit mining due to formation thickness and feasibility. %he ore is drilled , blasted, e!tracted and transport to mill for processing. @ein deposits are worked by shaft and adits as well as shallow open pits depending on the depth and accessibility 8. 4.2.2 !rocessing %he broken ore is trucked to the processing plant where it may be washed to remove adhering clay and low"grade fines before reduction by crusher to a specified si2e or finer for further processing. %he degree of further processing and concentration depends on the grade of ore, identified end use, and liberation si2e (i.e., the si2e at which the barite is essentially free of contaminating impurities- :.
Fig#4%-/ ,arite !r'ducti'n !r'cess

%he concentrated barite may be ground to final si2e specifications by a suitable milling unit. . 4/"micrometre (Hm- product is normally specified for drillmud barite3 however, a much finer product may be re7uired for other applications such as chemical and pharmaceutical preparations#;. Barite used for drilling petroleum wells must be finely ground so that at least :>% of the material, by weight, can pass through a #;;"mesh (>/"Hm- screen, and no more than 1;%, by weight can have an effective diameter of less than G Hm, which is measured using sedimentation techni7ues. %he ground barite must also be dense enough so that its specific gravity is 4.# or greater, soft enough to not damage the bearings of a tricone drill bit, chemically inert, and contain no more than #/; mg0kg of soluble alkaline salts. . small percentage of iron o!ide is allowable# .

4.3 Produ%tion of Barite as a (inera& o))odit*

4.3.1 "orld !roduction .ccording U,<, mineral statistics of #; the worldIs barite resources in all categories are about # billion tons, but only about >4; million tons is identified resources##.

=ther C'untries5 &3%-&% 4nited 0tates 5 6%$8% 7lgeria5 &-%$4% 4nited <ingd'm5 3%34% .ur;e85 &%73% Russia5 2%&3% !a;istan5 3%4$% M'r'cc'5 4%-2% Me:ic'5 -%"8%

Country United ,tates .lgeria $hina <ermany 6ndia 4e!ico 4orocco Bakistan Cussia %urkey United Jingdom &ther $ountries

9ndia5 &$%6&% China5 4-%24% German85 3%4$%

Fig#4%$/ 1'rld Reser+es ') ,arite -3&&

Source: United State Geological Survey

Reserves (in Million tons) /,;;; #:,;;; ;;,;;; ,;;; 1#,;;; >,;;; ;,;;; ,;;; #,;;; 4,;;; ;; #4,;;;

Reserves (in %) G.18 #.14 4#./4 ;.41 1.G #.:8 4.#/ ;.41 /. ; .>; ;.;4 ;.#

'orld Barite production was amounted to >.8 million metric ton in #; . Up to 84% of the barite production is used as a weighing agent in oil and gas drilling muds. %his highlights that the Barite industry closely tied with the &il and <as industry. )ig*4.4 illustrates the world Bar ite production from :/; to #; ;.
",333,333 8,333,333 7,333,333 6,333,333 2,333,333 4,333,333 $,333,333 -,333,333 &,333,333 3
&" 23 &" 22 &" 63 &" 62 &" 73 &" 72 &" 83 &" 82 &" "3 &" "2 -3 33 -3 32 -3 &3

Fig#4%4/ 1'rld ,arite !r'ducti'n )r'm &"23--3&3 Source: United States Geological Survey

%he apparent increase in barite production between :/; and :>/ can, in part, be attributed to improved reporting by several countries that are significant producers #1. During :8 there was a boom in the oil e!ploration industry which caused the considerable increase in the Barite production of around 8.1 million metric tons. ,econd and third peaks in ::> and #;;8 amounting G.> and 8.G million 4t respectively occurred due to the increase in the oil e!ploration caused by the increase of the price. During the peak in ::> the two largest barite producers in $hina increased production in an effort to consolidate their influence on the world market. %hese efforts were partly successful because rapid increase in production affect the 7uality of the product leading a reluctance to buy.

Source: Data taken from USGS mineral data

Fig#4%6/ ,arite !r'ducti'n in -33- and -3&&

%he )ig*4.G illustrates how the Barite production has been changed in a decade from #;;# to #; . $hina and 6ndia together were able to produce almost half of the 'orld Barite production out of them almost 4;% of the world production is produced by $hina. 4.3.2 #ocial, !olitical, Environmental and Technological $actors that affect the !roduction and !roduction %ost .s mentioned in the above chapter on main factor which affect the Barite production is the increase in the oil and gas production since the main consumer of the barite is the gas and oil industry. %his effect can be clearly observed by observing the peaks in ::> and #;;8.

Source: World mineral Statistics, British Geological Survey and Baker Hughes Inc (rig count data Fig#4%2/ 1'rld ,arite !r'ducti'n C'm(ared >ith the 7nnual a+erage number ') 7cti+e ?:(l'rati'n and !r'ducing 'il and @atural Gas Rigs (&"72--33$)

%he above figure illustrates that the increasing sensitivity of barite production to variation in drill rig activity. ,ame trend could be observed up to :8G between Barite production and rig activity because a change in rig activity mirrored by an e7uivalent change in Barite production. .fter

:8G the Barite production was sensitive to the rig activity because a small change in rig activity caused a considerable increase with several multiplies in the Barite production. Geopolitical &ssues $aced by a'or !roducers in ()**: 6n #; the Barite production was fuelled by the rapid e!pansion of the economies of countries such as Bra2il, $hina, and 6ndia, the demand for oil and gas has risen rapidly. %his increase in demand, plus improvements in technology, has resulted in a substantial increase in worldwide e!ploration for oil and gas and with it an increase in consumption of barite#4. 6n #; , the ma?or producer of Barite, %hina has decreased its production by appro!imately % compared to #;;8 peak production but increased e!port by #% compared to that of #; ;. The de rease in the reserves of some traditional deposits and the ombination of stri t adheren e to the environmental and health regulation ausing smaller mines out of business impa ted greatly for the de rease in produ tion in China4 Aatural disaster such as flooding damaged to the Barite production in India decreasing by 4t but recovered during summer production#/.

4.4 Barite Produ%tion+ En,iron)ent and Sustainab&e De,e&o$)ent

4.4.1 Environment and +ealth: Barite is not very mobile or bioavailable under most atmospheric, water, or soil conditions and does not undergo photolysis, abiotic, or biotic o!idation to yield barium ions #G. %hus the health ha2ards and environmental ha2ards caused by Barite are limited compared to other mineral commodities. 6nformation on the environmental fate and behaviour of barite or barium (as bariteis limited because the barium cycle has not been investigated. 4ost anthropogenic sources of barium emissions release barium (including barite- in particulate form. .tmospheric barium is not widely dispersed#>. .lthough some smaller barium"containing particles may have a residence time in the atmosphere up to a few days, the ma?ority of particles are greater than ; Hm in si2e and will 7uickly settle back to land or water #8. %he residence time of barium"containing particulates in air is a function of barium speciation, the chemical nature of the particulate, and environmental factors (e4g4% rainfall-. Barium is deposited to land and water through wet and dry deposition. Due to strong affinity of Barium ion to the sulfate ion the solubility of Barite in water is very low. Barite readily forms and precipitates out of the solution. %hus once formed it is very spearingly soluble under neutral p= and o!idation conditions. Barite in soil has very low mobility due to its insolubility and inability to form soluble comple!es with humic and fulvic matter#:. .s Barite e!hibits no evidence of carcinogenicity, developmental to!icity, reproductive to!icity, neuroto!icity, gene mutation, or chronic to!icity related to e!posure, it is considered as non" to!ic1;. =owever, the barium ion is to!ic if in an available form. %he to!icity of the barium ion depends on the solubility of the barium compound. %he low to!icity of barite to humans and environmental receptors is largely due to its insolubility in water, weak acids, and alcohols. ,everal cases were reported on baritosis caused in Barium"e!posed workers 1 . %his caused due to inhalation of the barium ore or barium sulfate. %he most outstanding feature of baritosis is the intense radiopacity of the discrete opacities, which are usually profusely disseminated throughout the lung fields3 in some cases the opacities may be so numerous that they appear confluent. %he available human data on baritosis suggest that the accumulation of barium in the lungs does not result in medical disability or symptomatology 1#. . decline in the profusion and opacity density, suggesting a decrease in the amount of accumulated barium in the lung, has been observed several years after termination of barium e!posure. During a investigation carried out e!amining 8 workers employed for 1./ to 8 years in a Barite mine and seven of the workers reported no respiratory symptoms3 worker reported a slight occasional cough. Bneumoconiosis was detected in the radiographs of > workers. %en of the workers e!amined in :G were re"

e!amined in :G1 ( 8 mo later-. %wo new cases of pneumoconiosis were diagnosed. %hus, : of ; workers e!posed to barium sulfate for ./ to :./ years (mean of 8.# years- had well"marked baritosis. %hree of these workers reported a slight or occasional cough and none had dyspnea11. 4.4.2 #ustainability ,pproaches: 4ost of the mining industries involved with many activities which affect the social, environmental and economical sustainability. But they are supposed to closely adhere to the environmental or social standards, regulations and guidelines on sustaining the ecosystem not only during its operations or processing but also after the production till the end of the life cycle of the product. 'hen consider barite production it is mostly carried out by the governments of the ma?or producing nations, thus they are highly binding to such sustainability initiatives. #ustainability reporting carried out by the Institute for Studies in Industrial "evelopment in Delhi, 6ndia reports that most of the mines are carried out scientific mining other than adhoc methods originating from a systematic approach to mine development and operation and considered it as the first step for ensuring environmental sustainability in mining. ,ome of the steps involved in scientific mining includes mine planning, mine development and operations, mineral waste management, tailings management and mine closure planning. %he ma?or pollution caused from mine is the air pollution which due to the particulate matter of various si2es and chemical constituents or dusts. %hus dust management at various stages of mining operations is the most important challenge. ,ome of the reported air 7uality management practices carried out by the 6ndian mine sites are14, Cegular water sprinkling (at intervals- on haul roads, other roads and working areas as well as active overburden dumps. 'et drilling and site mi!ed emulsion for drilling with less noise, vibration and dust in larger mines. Dust e!tractors in the crushing and screening plants, water spraying and dry fog system at the crushing plant. Use of covered dumpers and trucks for transportation of ore e!tracted. Cehabilitation of waste dumps through vegetation. $reation of green belts around the mining areas.

Fig#4%6/ Rehabilitati'n ') 1aste Dum(s and !lant @urseries

"ater pollution caused due to higher loads of suspended solids through ore"washing at the screening plant, slimes generation in the stockpiles or dumps and erosion over degraded lands. ,ome of the measures taken by the 6ndian mine industry to mitigate water pollution are, $onstruction of check dams to harvest rainwater and arrest surface runoffs3 Brovision of garland drains around ma?or waste dumps3 Brovision of settling ponds at suitable locations and channeling flow of water running down the hill or dumps to settling ponds.

)urther they value the community engagement in the mining process as an positive impact for sustainability ob?ectives. %hus the community development has been considered as a ma?or ob?ective of their sustainability development initiatives and carried out different pro?ects in order to achieve the said initiatives. $onstruction and maintenance of primary school buildings, construction of wells, tube wells, village tanks and temples, maintenance of some village roads, fre7uently used by the mining company for its business, and free medical camps and distribution of medicines are some of the measures reported1/.

1 Aelson, D.'., ,.K. Kiu, and K.L. ,ommers, :84. L!tractability and Blant Uptake of %race Llements from Drilling
)luids. Dournal of Lnvironmental Euality, 13M /G#"/GG. 2 '=& ('orld =ealth &rgani2ation-, #;; . $oncise 6nternational $hemical .ssessment Document 11M Barium and Barium $ompounds. .ccessed on ;/ Danuary #; 1 at httpM00www.inchem.org0documents0cicads0cicads0cicad11.htm. 3 http://mineral.eng.usm.my/web%20halaman%20mineral/Baryte.pdf. %he website was accessed on # December #; #. 4 %he Barytes .ssociation. 'ebsite .ccess on ;/ Danuary #; 1 httpM00www.barytes.org0uses.html / .D44C (.ri2ona Department of 4ines and 4ineral Cesources-, #;; . Brospecting for Barite. .ccessed on ; December #; # at httpM00www.admmr.state.a2.us0circ4barite.htm. G U,<, (United ,tates <eological ,urvey-, #;; . 4ineral $ommodity ,ummaries #;; . U.,. <eological ,urvey, U.,. Department of the 6nterior. .ccessed on # December #; # at httpM00minerals.usgs.gov0minerals0pubs0mcs0#; 0mcs#; .pdf. > $LB. ($alifornia Lnvironmental Brotection .gency-, #;;1. Bublic =ealth <oal for Barium in Drinking 'ater. Brepared by Besticide and Lnvironmental %o!icology ,ection, &ffice of Lnvironmental =ealth =a2ard .ssessment, $alifornia Lnvironmental Brotection .gency. ,eptember #;;1. .vailable on"line at httpM00oehha.ca.gov0water0phg0pdf0Bh4Ba;:#G;1.pdf. 8 $ode of )ederal Cegulations, #;;8. .ccessed on #8 December #; # httpsM00e!plore.data.gov0&ther0#;;8"$ode"of" )ederal"Cegulations"in"54K0hw8m"hfte : Bonel, J..., #;;/, 4ineral Brofile + Barytes, British <eological ,urvey, >. ; Bonel, J..., #;;/, 4ineral Brofile + Barytes, British <eological ,urvey, >. httpM00minerals.usgs.gov0minerals0pubs0mcs0#; #0mcs#; #.pdf .ccessed on ;/.; .#; 1. # Bonel J.. 4ineral Brofiles Barytes. Aatural Lnvironmental Cesearch $ouncil, British <eological ,urvey. #;;/. 1 Bonel J.. 4ineral Brofiles Barytes. Aatural Lnvironmental Cesearch $ouncil, British <eological ,urvey. #;;/. 4 %orres 4L, Bohrmann <, Dube %L, Boole )<. )ormation of modern and Baleo2oic stratiform barite at cold methane seeps on continental margins. %he <eological ,ociety of .merica. #;;1. @ol. 1 no. ;. pp 8:>":;; Bonel J.. 4ineral Brofiles Barytes. Aatural Lnvironmental Cesearch $ouncil, British <eological ,urvey. #;;/. httpM00earthsci.org0mineral0mindep0depfile0vei*dep.htmNdef .ccessed on ;8.; .#; 1. Bonel J.. 4ineral Brofiles Barytes. Aatural Lnvironmental Cesearch $ouncil, British <eological ,urvey. #;;/. Bonel J.. 4ineral Brofiles Barytes. Aatural Lnvironmental Cesearch $ouncil, British <eological ,urvey. #;;/. httpM00www.shibang"china.com0application0barite"mining.html .ccessed on ;.; .#; 1 #;httpM00mineral.eng.usm.my0web%#;halaman%#;mineral0Baryte.pdf .ccessed on #;. #.#; # # httpM00mineral.eng.usm.my0web%#;halaman%#;mineral0Baryte.pdf .ccessed on #;. #.#; # ## United ,tates <eological ,urvey. 4ineral $ommodities ,ummaries #; #. U.,. Department of the 6nterior. #; # #1 Bonel J.. 4ineral Brofiles Barytes. Aatural Lnvironmental Cesearch $ouncil, British <eological ,urvey. #;;/. #4 United ,tates <eological ,urvey. 4ineral $ommodities ,ummaries #; #. U.,. Department of the 6nterior. #; #/ United ,tates <eological ,urvey. 4ineral $ommodities ,ummaries #; #. U.,. Department of the 6nterior. #; #G U, LB. (United ,tates Lnvironmental Brotection .gency-, :: . Barium ,ulfate3 %o!ic $hemical Celease Ceporting3 $ommunity Cight"%o"Jnow. Lnvironmental Brotection.gency, /G )C #1GG8. #1 4ay :: . #> .lberta Lnvironment. ,oil Cemediation <uideline for BaritM Lnvironemntal =ealth and =uman =ealth. $limate $hange, .ir and Kand Bolicy Branch, .lberta Lnvironment. #;;: #8 '=& ('orld =ealth &rgani2ation-, #;; . $oncise 6nternational $hemical .ssessment Document 11M Barium and Barium $ompounds. .ccessed on # December #; # at httpM00www.inchem.org0documents0cicads0cicads0cicad11.htm. #:'=& ('orld =ealth &rgani2ation-, #;; . $oncise 6nternational $hemical .ssessment Document 11M Barium and Barium $ompounds. .ccessed on # December #; # at httpM00www.inchem.org0documents0cicads0cicads0cicad11.htm. 1; .lberta Lnvironment. ,oil Cemediation <uideline for BaritM Lnvironemntal =ealth and =uman =ealth. $limate $hange, .ir and Kand Bolicy Branch, .lberta Lnvironment. #;;: 1 httpM00www.epa.gov0iris0subst0;; ;.htm .ccessed on .; .#; 1. 1# httpM00www.epa.gov0iris0subst0;; ;.htm .ccessed on .; .#; 1. 11 httpM00www.epa.gov0iris0subst0;; ;.htm .ccessed on .; .#; 1 14 httpM00planningcommission.gov.in0reports .ccessed on .; .#; 1. 1/ httpM00planningcommission.gov.in0reports .ccessed on .; .#; 1. / G > 8 :