Barite Critical In Oil And Gas Drilling
Industrial Minerals by Harold Hough 

            Mention Elko, Nevada to most miners and they think of gold and the Carlin trend.  But this part of Nevada is home to a world class barite deposit that is a critical mineral for oil and gas drillers – although much less glamorous than gold.  In fact, the region was once called, “The Barite Capital of the World.”
            Barite has many industrial uses.  While most barite is used in oil and gas drilling, it also used as a nontoxic filler in certain plastics and foams and in brake and clutch pads.  There is also a pharmaceutical grade of the mineral used for those “barium milkshakes” used for intestinal x-rays.
            Most Barite mining is low profile – a good idea since much of it is mined by Halliburton, a favorite target of the left.  One such mine in Elko County, NV is the Rossi Mine, which was discovered by a cowboy, Antonio Rossi and his partner Carlo Cereghino in 1937.  Barite production began in 1947 and continues to this day under the control of Baroid Drilling, which is a subsidiary of Halliburton, the petroleum services company.
            95% of barite consumption goes to the oil and gas industry as a drilling fluid (mud) for their drilling rigs.  Barite’s primary quality is that it is being heavy.  It is used primarily in oil and gas well drilling to control hole pressure.  Drillers mix ground barite with water to make “mud,” then pump the mixture down the hole to control the gas pressures found in the well.  Although other minerals are heavy, like iron, lead or witherite (barium carbonate), barite is cheaper, relatively inert, insoluble, nontoxic, and soft (so it doesn't wear drilling equipment).
            The critical factor in barite mining is the specific gravity of the mineral being mined.  The American Petroleum Institute has decreed that drilling fluid grade barite must have a specific gravity of 4.2 (4.2 times heavier than water).  Although much of the barite from the Rossi Mine fits these standards, there is lighter barite that contains lighter impurities like quartz, gypsum, and siderite.  This is set aside and later blended with barite with a specific gravity greater than 4.2.  Jigs, flotation apparatus, and magnetic separators help the mines separate heavier barite from the lighter material with impurities.  Drilling fluid barite is then is shipped elsewhere for grinding into a fine powder of 3 to 74 microns.
            Barite is another industrial mineral that faces heavy Chinese competition.  Although 670,000 tons were mined in 2010, an additional 2.1 million tons was imported – mostly from China. 
            Rising oil prices promise an increasing demand for barite.  However, the industry took a serious hit last year with the undersea blowout at the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig.  After the accident, the Obama Administration started restricting off shore drilling.  In mid-April (before the moratorium) there were 55 drilling rigs operating in the Gulf of Mexico, but by mid-July the number had dropped to 12. Deepwater wells require more barite than most onshore wells because of deeper drilling depths and higher pressures, so this decrease in operating rigs had a significant impact on Gulf of Mexico barite sales. Some experts estimate it could take 2 years for oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico to return to pre-spill levels.
            However, oil production in North Dakota promises to make up for much of that.  Nevada is closer to North Dakota and therefore their barite is cheaper than the Chinese.  Experts are saying that North Dakota will soon surpass Alaska and California as an oil producing state and become number two (Texas remaining at number one). Ron Ness, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council, said about 650 new wells were drilled in 2010.  He expects 200 rigs to be drilling this year.  That is a safe estimate since 99% of the wells drilled in the Bakken and Three Forks-Sanish oil fields hit oil and nine in ten are profitable. 
            Federal and state estimates had pegged North Dakota's portion of the Bakken shale and underlying Three Forks-Sanish oil formations in western North Dakota at about 5 billion barrels of oil, using current horizontal drilling technology.  With such potential, chances are that Nevada’s barite mines will continue to see healthy growth for the next several years.

Industrial Minerals by Harold Hough                         April/May 2011

            Mention Elko, Nevada to most miners and they think of gold and the Carlin trend.  But this part of Nevada is home to a world class barite deposit that is a critical mineral for oil and gas drillers – although much less glamorous than gold.  In fact, the region was once called, “The Barite Capital of the World.”
            Barite has many industrial uses.  While most barite is used in oil and gas drilling, it also used as a nontoxic filler in certain plastics and foams and in brake and clutch pads.  There is also a pharmaceutical grade of the mineral used for those “barium milkshakes” used for intestinal x-rays.
            Most Barite mining is low profile – a good idea since much of it is mined by Halliburton, a favorite target of the left.  One such mine in Elko County, NV is the Rossi Mine, which was discovered by a cowboy, Antonio Rossi and his partner Carlo Cereghino in 1937.  Barite production began in 1947 and continues to this day under the control of Baroid Drilling, which is a subsidiary of Halliburton, the petroleum services company.
            95% of barite consumption goes to the oil and gas industry as a drilling fluid (mud) for their drilling rigs.  Barite’s primary quality is that it is being heavy.  It is used primarily in oil and gas well drilling to control hole pressure.  Drillers mix ground barite with water to make “mud,” then pump the mixture down the hole to control the gas pressures found in the well.  Although other minerals are heavy, like iron, lead or witherite (barium carbonate), barite is cheaper, relatively inert, insoluble, nontoxic, and soft (so it doesn't wear drilling equipment).
            The critical factor in barite mining is the specific gravity of the mineral being mined.  The American Petroleum Institute has decreed that drilling fluid grade barite must have a specific gravity of 4.2 (4.2 times heavier than water).  Although much of the barite from the Rossi Mine fits these standards, there is lighter barite that contains lighter impurities like quartz, gypsum, and siderite.  This is set aside and later blended with barite with a specific gravity greater than 4.2.  Jigs, flotation apparatus, and magnetic separators help the mines separate heavier barite from the lighter material with impurities.  Drilling fluid barite is then is shipped elsewhere for grinding into a fine powder of 3 to 74 microns.
            Barite is another industrial mineral that faces heavy Chinese competition.  Although 670,000 tons were mined in 2010, an additional 2.1 million tons was imported – mostly from China. 
            Rising oil prices promise an increasing demand for barite.  However, the industry took a serious hit last year with the undersea blowout at the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig.  After the accident, the Obama Administration started restricting off shore drilling.  In mid-April (before the moratorium) there were 55 drilling rigs operating in the Gulf of Mexico, but by mid-July the number had dropped to 12. Deepwater wells require more barite than most onshore wells because of deeper drilling depths and higher pressures, so this decrease in operating rigs had a significant impact on Gulf of Mexico barite sales. Some experts estimate it could take 2 years for oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico to return to pre-spill levels.
            However, oil production in North Dakota promises to make up for much of that.  Nevada is closer to North Dakota and therefore their barite is cheaper than the Chinese.  Experts are saying that North Dakota will soon surpass Alaska and California as an oil producing state and become number two (Texas remaining at number one). Ron Ness, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council, said about 650 new wells were drilled in 2010.  He expects 200 rigs to be drilling this year.  That is a safe estimate since 99% of the wells drilled in the Bakken and Three Forks-Sanish oil fields hit oil and nine in ten are profitable. 
            Federal and state estimates had pegged North Dakota's portion of the Bakken shale and underlying Three Forks-Sanish oil formations in western North Dakota at about 5 billion barrels of oil, using current horizontal drilling technology.  With such potential, chances are that Nevada’s barite mines will continue to see healthy growth for the next several years.