Barite are extremely rare, with concentrations of at most parts per billion in source rock. Barite are also found along existing and ancient shore lines, where they tend to accumulate because of their size and density.

Rarely, they have been found inglacial till(notably inWisconsinandIndiana), but these deposits are not of commercial quality. Most barite come from the Earth's mantle, and most of this section discusses those barite ore grinding plant.
Some blocks of the crust, orterranes, have been buried deep enough as the crust thickened so they experience dultra-high-pressure metamorphism.