BARITE SPECIMEN LOCALITIES

An aid to labeling display quality barite specimens

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Click picture to enlarge. Unless noted all specimens are from Bill & Diana Dameron’s barite suite

ROMANIA

Alba, Baia de Aries (Offenbánya in Hungarian)
	Part of the famous gold locality which includes Verespatak. Bancroft reports old sources reporting large pockets of sizable white and green barite crystals.
Maramures, Baia Mare, Baia Sprie (formerly Felsöbánya in Hungarian)
	The Baia Mare area includes Baia Sprie & Herja. Cavnic is 30 kilometers east. Labels are often mixed up among these localities. Many forms and colors. From left: Grey-blue tabular 2.5 cm blades rimmed with white 7 cm; 14 cm plate of delicate short pale yellow-white needles to 0.7 cm; Thick, clear tabular crystals with stibnite inclusions, to 1.5 cm, with sprays of short glossy stibnite needles; Transparent blades to 5.5 cm coated with 3 mm brown siderite balls, 6 cm; Bright, very translucent golden tabular blades to 3 cm in 9 cm group; Very thin blades to 1.5 cm, reddish from realgar or orpiment inclusions, with tiny stibnite needles, 7 cm; Very red thin blades to 0.9 cm with tiny stibnites, 4.5 cm; Clear tabular blades to 1.5 cm with stibnite needles, 10 cm; Thick tabular parallel blades to 3 cm with red rims (realgar - often labeled Cavnic but some experts say the realgar inclusions are all from Baia Sprie), 6 cm specimen; Thin clear/milky blades to 2.5 cm each on amethyst crystal; Thin "spears" to 1.5 cm in thick groups, clear with orangish-red centers, overall orange color, 6.5 cm; Bright red realgar-included piece (Ian Bruce specimen), about 9 cm. Red realgar-included spears to 0.7 cm, 5x5 cm.
Maramures, Baia Mare, Herja mine (Herzsabánya in Hungarian)
	Blue/gray blades to 4.5 cm, zoned with blue, cream color near neat complex tips, 7.5 cm; sawtooth milky thick tabular crystals to 7 cm, with short stibnite spray 7 cm; gemmy tabular light gold crystals to 3 cm in groups on small, milky quartz crystals with sprays of short stibnite to 1.5 cm, sphalerite matrix; 10x15 cm specimen.; Milky tranluscent blades in complex groups to 3 cm, thin, good luster. All together on one side of specimen; remainder is spray of stibnite blades to 2.5x0.5 cm, decent but not good luster, terminations duller but all seem complete. 7x8 cm.
Maramures, Cavnic (Kapnikbánya in Hungarian)
	Dark blue thin spears (like Taxco, but darker; irradiated?) to 2.5 cm, 10 cm overall; thick blades to 3 cm on edge with (most likely) stibnite inclusions.
Maramures, Cavnic, Roata mine
	Stibnite blades coated with tiny barites and clear crystals to 1 cm with dark orange rims; 6x5.5 cm specimen.
Satu Mare, Gheturi mine
	Very aesthetic clear, elongated, thin doubly terminated blades, 4 cm, perched completely on top of what appears to be chalcocite matrix with scattered pyrite/barite crystals. Also on small reddish siderite crystals. Labels often say Turt mine; Now Gheturi mine, says Ross Lillie. MinDat uses both.