Barite is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate. It is generally white or colorless, and is the main source of barium.

Mohs hardness: 3 - 3 1/2

Common uses today - Paint and paper manufacturing as well as petroleum products and drilling work.

Colorado Barite - pictures in the CP forums.

From Wikipedia - Barite
"Baryte commonly occurs in lead-zinc veins in limestones, in hot spring deposits, and with hematite ore. It is often associated with the minerals anglesite and celestine
Baryte that is used as an aggregate in a "heavy" cement is crushed and screened to a uniform size. Most baryte is ground to a small, uniform size before it is used as a filler or extender, an addition to industrial products, or a weighting agent in petroleum well drilling mud.
Baryte is used in the manufacture of paints and paper. Although baryte contains a "heavy" metal (barium), it is not considered to be a toxic chemical by most governments because of its extreme insolubility."

Check out the Mindat.org database for detailed information about Barite.

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