bastnaesite

bastnaesite, a cerium fluoride carbonate, CeCO₃(OH,F), found in contact metamorphic zones and pegmatites; cerium is commonly substituted by light rare earths, lanthanum, yttrium, and thorium. It ranges in colour from wax-yellow to reddish-brown. Bastnaesite is commonly associated with other rare-earth-bearing minerals such as allanite, cerite, and tysonite; it is often an alteration product of tysonite. Bastnaesite occurs in pegmatites near Pikes Peak, Colo. and with fluorite in Lincoln County, New Mexico; it is commercially mined at Mountain Pass, Calif. For detailed physical properties, see carbonate mineral (table).