Amber Barite is a golden, honey-colored variety of barite, best known from the Elk Creek area of Meade County, South Dakota, where sharp amber-colored crystals occur in septarian concretions. It shares barite's diagnostic properties: notable heft for its size, perfect cleavage, and a hardness of about 3.
Is this amber barite?
5-step field checkRun through these checks against the specimen in your hand. The more boxes tick, the more confident the ID.
- 1Test the hardnessTry to scratch amber barite with a known reference. Amber Barite sits at Mohs 3-3.5, softer than the next harder reference, harder than the previous one.
- 2Check the streakDrag the specimen across an unglazed porcelain plate. Amber Barite leaves a white streak.
- 3Read the lusterHold the specimen under a strong light. Amber Barite typically shows a vitreous luster.
- 4Match the color rangeCompare against the expected color range: amber, golden yellow, honey.
- 5Look at form & habitCrystal system: orthorhombic. Typical habit: nodules, drops, irregular masses.
Often confused with
Amber Barite vs. its common look-alikes, and how to tell them apart in the field.
Often found alongside amber barite
Minerals reported to co-occur with amber barite. Spotting these in float or country rock is a strong cue you are in the right ground.
All properties
- Chemical formula
- BaSO₄
- Mohs hardness
- 3-3.5
- Density
- 4.5 g/cm³
- Colors
- Streak
- White
- Luster
- Vitreous
- Transparency
- Translucent
- Crystal system
- Orthorhombic
- Crystal habit
- Nodules, Drops, Irregular Masses
- Cleavage
- Perfect Basal
- Fluorescence
- Blue or Yellow Under LW UV
- Rarity
- Common
- Uses
- Gemstone, Collector, Decorative
- Host rock
- Sedimentary Strata
Where rockhounds find amber barite
1 mapped spotsClassic worldwide localities
- Baltic Sea region
- Dominican Republic
- Mexico
- Myanmar
- Canada
Field-hunting tip
Look in sedimentary strata country, the host setting where amber barite typically forms. If you start seeing glauconite, quartz, pyrite in float, you are in the right ground. Field specimens usually show a nodules, drops, irregular masses habit, so train your eye for that shape before scanning the outcrop. In the U.S., the densest reported localities are in South Dakota. Start trip planning there.
Common questions
How do you identify amber barite?+
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What rocks look like amber barite?+
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Find amber barite on the map
RockHoundR shows mapped rockhounding spots, access rules, and lets you log every find.
