Knowra Bastnäsite Bastnäsite Bastnäsite is a group of carbonate-fluoride minerals, chiefly containing cerium and other light rare-earth elements. It is an important ore mineral for extracting these elements.
Rare-earth element : A member of the lanthanide series, or scandium or yttrium, with similar chemical properties. Bastnäsite concentrates several light rare-earth elements in its mineral structure.
Rare-earth mining : The extraction and processing of ores to obtain rare-earth elements. Bastnäsite is one of the principal minerals targeted by rare-earth mines.
Monazite : A phosphate mineral that commonly contains cerium, lanthanum, thorium, and other rare-earth elements. It is a major rare-earth ore, but its phosphate chemistry differs from bastnäsite’s carbonate-fluoride composition.
Carbonatite : An igneous rock composed predominantly of carbonate minerals. Many economically important bastnäsite deposits are associated with carbonatite rocks.
Lanthanide : One of the 15 metallic elements from lanthanum through lutetium. Most economically valuable elements hosted by bastnäsite belong to this series.
Mountain Pass Mine : A rare-earth mine in California, United States, known for its bastnäsite deposit. Its ore body made bastnäsite a major source of rare earths outside China.
Xenotime : A yttrium phosphate mineral that commonly hosts heavy rare-earth elements. Unlike bastnäsite’s light rare-earth enrichment, xenotime is associated chiefly with yttrium and heavy rare earths.
Magmatic differentiation : The processes by which a magma changes composition as minerals crystallize or separate. Differentiation can concentrate rare-earth-bearing minerals in carbonatite systems.
Carbonate mineral : A mineral containing a carbonate ion, CO₃²⁻, as a major structural component. Carbonate is one of the two anionic components defining bastnäsite’s composition.
Bayan Obo : A large iron-niobium-rare-earth deposit in Inner Mongolia, China. Bastnäsite is among the rare-earth minerals mined from this major deposit.
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