Bastnaesite

Item Description

A robust, well-terminated, hexagonal, bastnaesite crystal from Zagi Mountain. The lustrous crystal has rich, golden-amber color and is gemmy to translucent. Some faces are glassy and some are frosted/etched. Smaller crystals, a quartz crystal and granitic matrix are a nice accent. I paid dearly for this from Herb Obodda, when these first came out. The true locality was unknown, as Herb's label indicates Afghanistan! The primary crystal is complete all-around, except for the contact at the base. This striking thumbnail of this rare Rare Earth species has many display possibilities, as you can see.