Mined from: Cavnic Mine, Cavnic, Maramureș County, Romania

Description: This blue barite specimen comes from the long-closed Cavnic Mine in Romania’s Maramureș region, where the Apuseni Mountains intersect with centuries of mining history. The crystals display a silvery to sky-blue hue and form tight, bladed clusters with a soft, glassy luster. Cavnic barite is prized for both its color and the sharp precision of its crystal faces, often forming intricate rose-like aggregates that give each piece a distinctly sculptural character.

Barite (BaSO₄) is a barium sulfate mineral notable for its high specific gravity—one of the heaviest among non-metallic minerals. While industrially used to weight drilling muds, its geological beauty lies in the contrast between its density and its delicate crystal forms. At Cavnic, barite developed in hydrothermal veins associated with polymetallic mineralization, often found alongside galena, sphalerite, and silver-bearing species. The mine operated for centuries before closing in 2008, when most of the underground workings were flooded and sealed. Today, specimens from Cavnic survive only through older collections, making each example a finite link to a bygone era of European mining.

Local folklore from the region tells of miners’ spirits said to guard the mountain’s depths—a reflection of how deeply mining shaped the identity of Cavnic itself. Regardless of belief, these blue barite crystals hold a tangible sense of place and history: formed in heat and pressure, worked by hand for generations, and now existing only as preserved fragments of a closed world.

Quantity: 1pc

With this product, you will get the actual stone in the photograph. We do what we can to buy good quality products and price them honestly. The rocks may differ from the photos, but we hope we do them justice.