Bastnäsite-(Ce) (rare)

Item Description

Going back to the late 1990s - early 2000s the Zagi Mountain locality near Peshawar, Pakistan was the source of some of the finest quality and amazingly gemmy Bastnäsite specimens. This mineral often forms in relatively thin blades and was never suitable enough for cutting stones. The find in Pakistan produced some very thick crystals for the species, some of which were gem quality, and yielded some excellent rare faceted stones, highly prized by collectors. They often have some sort of inclusions, and completely eye clean gems are very hard to find. This particular stone is a beautiful, golden orange color gem with a "Round Brilliant" cut. The stone is very slightly included, which is well above average for this material. This stone would fill a spot in any rare gem collection.