Barites or Barytes (BaSO4) is one of the chief sources of barium. It contains 65% of BaO and occurs either as crystalline or massive.
The Cuddapah Basin of Andhra Pradesh is the repository of about 90% of the known barite reserves in India and about 25% of the world’s reserve of the mineral. A single deposit at Mangampeta has about 70 Mt of barite, which is estimated to have an initial reserve of 37 Mt. Barytes deposits of Kadapa district can be divided into two types,
1) Grey Barytes and
2) Conventional Barytes

APMDC is exploiting the Mangampeta deposit and producing about 3.0 million tonnes per annum and intends to increase the production level to 5.0 Million tonnes in the coming years. Huge reserves of barytes are found in Kadapa, Prakasam and Nellore districts. Mangampeta barytes with grade 92-94% BaSO4 and an average specific gravity of 4.21 is used in oil & gas well drilling.
The other grades cater to the needs of Chemical and Paint industries. Barytes occurs in Vempalli dolomite and associated basic igneous rocks as veins in Pulivendula, Kamalapuram and Kadapa taluks.