Monazite-(Ce), Quartz

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Monazite gets its name from the Greek word "monazein," which means "to be alone," in allusion to its isolated crystals and their rarity when first found. This is a remarkable, very well crystallized, very rare, specimen consisting of sharp, lustrous, gemmy, orange-pink, twinned crystals of Monazite-(Ce) on Quartz on matrix. Monazite is usually found in granitic pegmatites, but these crystals are found in hydrothermal tin veins where there is an absolute absence of Thorium (usually a trace element in Monazite). This piece is from the same mine for which this material was discovered along the Contacto and San Jose veins in this mine and was first described by Sam Gordon and Mark Bandy. These crystals also show a distinct color change in various lightings.