Rossi Barite Mine

 mine, open-pit mine

The Rossi Mine is located in Elko County approximately 50 miles northeast of Battle Mountain Nevada as shown on Figure 1. Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. (Halliburton) has mined barite from the Rossi Mine using open pit methods since 1947. Ore is processed through a jig plant located at the mine, and the concentrate is transported to a plant located at Dunphy, Nevada for crushing, packaging, and shipping. Mining is currently being conducted primarily in the Sage Hen area with limited mining in the Queen Lode (Queen) area, shown on Figure 2. Future mining is expected to expand the Queen Pit and waste rock dump footprint.

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.

Reference:

www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/nv/field_offices/el...

www.nbmg.unr.edu/dox/r4.pdf