The celestite concentrate obtained from Barite Mining Company (Sivas-Turkey) was converted to strontium carbonate using sodium carbonate in a planetary ball mill operated both in dry and wet modes. After wet planetary milling of celestite concentrate and sodium carbonate mixture, solid strontium carbonate and soluble Na(2)SO(4) were obtained. The conversion reaction were followed by dissolution and sulphate analyses after high-energy milling operations. The 10, 20 and 40 min of wet milling experiments were performed in a planetary mill and the results showed that over 90% of dissolution and conversion of initial celestite to strontium carbonate was achievable by high-energy milling. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.