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Fig 1. World barite production in 2019 and 2020 
Indeed, fig1 shows that the USA, which was ranked sixth largest world producer in 2019, 
saw severe curtailment in barite production in 2020. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
does not classify barite additive as a hazardous waste. Drilling fluids play sophisticated roles in 
the drilling process: stabilizing the wellbore without damaging the formation, keeping formation 
fluids at bay, clearing cuttings from the bit face and lubricating the bit and drill-string. 
Drilling barite and other Weight materials are compounds that are dissolved or suspended in 
drilling fluid to increase its density. They are used to control formation pressures and resist the 
effects of sloughing or heaving shale’s that may be encountered in stressed areas. Barite (BaSO4) 
often is added as a weighting agent to drilling mud to counteract pressure in the geologic 
formations being drilled, preventing a blowout. Some commercial drilling mud barites contain 
elevated (compared to marine sediments) concentrations of several metals. The metals, if 
bioavailable, may harm the local marine ecosystem. The bioavailable fraction of metals is the 
fraction that dissolves from the nearly insoluble, solid barite into seawater or sediment porewater. 
Barite-seawater and barite-porewater distribution coefficients (Kd) were calculated for 
determining the predicted environmental concentration (PEC; the bioavailable fraction) of metals 

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4-Секция: Нодир ва ноёб металлар технологияси
 
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from drilling mud barite in the water column and sediments, respectively. The current API 
specifications for drilling barite is given in table 1 
Table 1 
The current API specifications for drilling barite 
Specific Gravity 
4.10 or 4.20 g/cm3 min 
BaSO
4
85% or 90% min 
Extractable Carbonates 
3000 mg/l max 
Hg 
1.00ppm max 
Cd 
3.00ppm max 
Water Alkaline Earth, Metals as Calcium 
250 ppm max 
Moisture 
1.00% max 
Residue > 75 micrometers 
3.00% max