Monazite-(Ce)
Mineral (Ce,La,Nd,Th)PO4
Also called Monazite
Take care.
- Radioactive: Keep it in a closed, labelled box away from where people sit or sleep, handle it briefly, wash your hands after, and never grind or cut it.
About it
Heavy brown to honey-yellow grains and wedge-shaped crystals whose thorium makes most of it radioactive. Concentrated in beach sands of India, Brazil, and Australia, and mined for rare earths.
- Type
- Mineral
- Group
- Phosphate, monazite group
- Formula
- (Ce,La,Nd,Th)PO4
- Hardness (Mohs)
- 5–5.5
- Specific gravity
- 4.9–5.5
- Streak
- white
- Lustre
- resinous, vitreous (glassy), adamantine (diamond-like)
- Crystal system
- Monoclinic
- Colours
- reddish brown, yellowish brown, honey yellow, brown, greenish
- Transparency
- translucent, opaque
- Cleavage and fracture
- distinct in one direction, with parting; conchoidal to uneven fracture
Typical values: real specimens vary. For more, see mindat.org.