Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Bastnasite
In geology, the mineral bastnasite is one of a family of three carbonate-fluoride minerals. There is bastnasite-(Ce) with a formula of (Ce, La)CO3F. There is bastnasite-(La) with a formula of (La, Ce)CO3F. There is also bastnasite-(Y) with a formula of (Y, Ce)CO3F. Most bastnasite is bastnasite-(Ce), and cerium is by far the most common of the rare earths in this class of minerals. Bastnasite and the phosphate mineral monazite are the two largest sources of cerium. The hardness of bastnasite ranges from 4 to 4.5. The specific gravity ranges from 4.7 to 5.0, which is above average for a mineral.
See also: List of minerals
03-10-2013 05:06:04
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The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details