ichard here from Mineral of the Month Club with details on our October 2011 featured mineral, Barite from Huanuco Department, Peru. We arrived home on September 24 after a successful trip to Denver for the excellent show there. It's becoming rather like a "Mini-Tucson", with at least 7 shows taking place that week, including four at the Merchandise Mart Complex alone--the 44th Annual Denver Gem & Mineral Show that we participated in, along with a separate fossil show, a bead show, and a wholesale gem and jewelry show. Earlier that week, we visited three other shows at other venues around the area, so there's lots to see in Denver in September! We enjoyed mild weather there, with a little rain on Wednesday, and we could bring Cheryl's dog Cella, as our hotel there is pet-friendly, though the Merchandise Mart is not, so Cella could not be inside for the show. What she missed were the usual breathtaking display cases from collectors, universities, and museums, and a large selection of dealers from all the U.S. and from overseas. You can see a "commercial" for this year's show on Youtube, including a couple of quick photos of our booth, by following this link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKtdgjq4jUQ (Copy the link and paste it into your browser to see the video.) Time does not allow us to include an Offer sheet this month, but we did pick up a few small lots of excellent minerals we've featured in the past for inclusion in an Offer Sheet for November, so we hope you'll be patient! This month's featured mineral is exceptional--some of the specimens took my breath away! Our Barite was collected high in the Andes Mountains, at Cerro Huarihuyn (also spelled Warihuayin), Miraflores District, Huamalies Province, Huanuco Department, Peru. The crystals are sharply formed and translucent, showing the tabular habit common to barite, as you can see from the photos below.  The name "barite" comes from the Greek "barytes," meaning "heavy," in allusion to barite's high specific gravity. (The element barium has an atomic weight two and a half times that of iron.) You'll find the write-up fascinating, and we'll be happy to send it to you if you decide to order a nice specimen this month.  We have Gold-level specimens available for $26.50, as always. They are about 3" by 2" to 3.5." by 2.5" in size, and slightly larger. They have crystals similar in color to those in Group 1 below. We grouped the Platinum-level Barite specimens according to the color and size of their crystals--they fell naturally into 3 groups, as you'll see from the photos below. We did this grouping a little bit differently--after mentioning each Group, we made mention of the "Best of Group" for those who want an especially extraordinary specimen. Group 1 Barites have clear thin crystals with a slightly grayish-greenish tinge, as seen in the photos below. All have sharp crystals on matrix, and are priced according to the number of crystals and the overall crystal arrangement. The matrix size goes from about 3" by 2" up to about 4" by 4", for $40, $45, and $50. We have about 14 of these. Best of Group 1 The best four from this group with the largest, best crystals are available for $140, $160, $180, and $300--see the photo below. We can send you an additional photo of any of these if you wish to help you decide. Group 2 Barites have larger crystals, many over 1" on an edge! Again, the crystals are thin and flat, though thicker than the crystal in Group 1, as you can see in the photos below. When backlit, they have a light amber color which is quite striking. We have the most of these, about 33. The smaller specimens have little or no matrix and are about 3.5" by 2.5" for $45 and $55; larger pieces or with more significant matrix are available for $65 and $75. Best of Group 2 have the largest crystals on larger matrix, for $125, $150, $175, and $200, as seen in the photo below. Again, we can send you another photo to help you decide. Group 3 Barites have smaller crystals than Group 1 and Group 2, yet these have the golden color seen in the finest barite crystals! The photos give you an idea of their beauty. We have smaller specimens on matrix about 2.5" by 2 to 3" by 2" for $60, $70, and $80; on matrix about 3.5" by 2.5" to 4" by 4" for $110, $130, $150, $175, and $200. We have about 29 of these. Best of Group 3 are on matrix about 4.5" to 5.5" across with the largest crystals in this group, for $350 and $400--see the photo. We can send an additional photo to help you decide. If you would like more than one specimen, we will give you 15% off on the lesser-priced of the specimens; if you want 3 (maybe one from each Group?) we'll give you 20% on the two lesser- priced specimens. Please let me know if you have any questions, or if you would like to order a beautiful barite, or wish to pass on this month's mineral. Thanks in advance, and thanks so much for being a member, allowing me to examine all these magnificent minerals before we send them out to you! Richard Mineral of the Month Club 1770 Orville Ave Cambria, CA 93428 1-800-941-5594 (805)927-2223 Richard@Mineralofthemonthclub.org www.mineralofthemonthclub.org