$140Median
3Sold (12 mo)
$3,500Last sale
Bastnasite specimens for sale
19 for sale · $40–$6,500 USD
124 in the gallery
Bastnasite is a carbonate-fluoride mineral that forms as prisms or tabular crystals, often showing a pale yellow to brown color and a vitreous to resinous luster. It commonly occurs in hydrothermal veins and as part of rare-earth mineral assemblages, sometimes in granular to acicular habit. The mineral associates with other rare-earth minerals and can precipitate in skarn and pegmatite environments, making it a source of REE-bearing specimens for collectors when well-formed crystals are recovered.
- Formula
- (Ce/Nd/Y/REE)(CO3)F
- Rarity
- Common
- Stability
- Moderately Stable
- Collector interest
- Moderate Interest
- Classification notes
- Carbonates; Fluorocarbonates, Bastnäsite group
Key characteristics
- Crystal system
- hexagonal
- Mohs hardness
- 4–4.5
- Specific gravity
- 4.9–5.2
- Luster
- vitreous, resinous, greasy, pearly
- Transparency
- transparent, translucent
- Color
- yellow, brown, red, orange
- Streak
- white
- Cleavage
- distinct
- Fracture
- uneven
- Crystal habit
- tabular, prismatic, granular, massive
- Gem mineral
- Classic / historic
Buy Bastnasite specimens
View all 19Where Bastnasite is found
Top localities
- Zagi Mountain22 specimens
- Ganadao2 specimens
- Trimouns Talc Mine2 specimens
- Pakistan1 specimen
- Poudrette Quarry1 specimen
- Mount Malosa1 specimen
- Trimouns1 specimen
- Andakatany Deposit1 specimen
About Bastnasite
Notable localities include Pakistan, Australia, Canada, Madagascar, and Malawi, where Bastnasite crystals have been described from vein systems and pegmatites. Specimens are prized for their clarity and the subtle color, as well as the historical interest of the REE-bearing minerals they accompany. Collectors value Bastnasite for its role in REE mineralogy and for the challenge of finding distinctive, well-formed crystals from classic REE districts.
