Bastnasite-(Ce)

Item Description

An excellent sharp textbook hexagonal bastnasite thumbnail with a fine modified pyramidal termination from Zagi Mountain. The lustrous, translucent crystal has rich mottled honey-brown color. Bastnasite is an uncommon, hexagonal rare earth Cesium carbonate with easily the world's finest and largest examples coming from Zagi Mountain. These fairly new specimens from here have simply redefined the species for size and quality of crystals. It seems as though this locality has produced less and less of these outstanding specimens over the last few years (the ongoing nearby Afghanistan conflict has much to do with this), and if you don't have one in your collection, just keep in mind that these crystals are superb for what they are.