The Trimouns Mine in Southern France is a giant talc-producing locality (yielding 400,000 tons of talc per year), but it's also the source of superb rare-earth mineral species that are really legendary in the community of European collectors, and important in terms of early study of these species. Perhaps the most famous species from this locality is bastnäsite-(Ce), as some of the finest crystals of the species have been found here. This specimen hosts a great example of this classic material, featuring a beautiful, rich orange-colored group of platy hexagonal blades of bastnäsite-(Ce) measuring 9 mm across. These are associated with colorless, rhombic crystals of dolomite up to 8 mm. Thought to date to the early 1980s, this excellent specimen was previously in the well-known collections of Martin Zinn and Dr. Wouter Van Tichelen. Comes with a custom lucite base.
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