[bast-nuh-sahyt] 
| a rare-earth mineral, fluorocarbonate of lanthanum and cerium, with a waxy-yellow to reddish-brown color, commonly associated with zinc ores. |
| bast·naes·ite (bāst'nə-sīt') n. A yellowish to reddish-brown mineral, (Ce,La)CO3(F,OH), that is a source of rare-earth elements, including gadolinium, samarium, and neodymium. [After Bastnäs, a mine in south-central Sweden.] |
bastnaesite
a cerium fluoride carbonate, CeCO3(OH,F), found in contact metamorphic zones and pegmatites; cerium is commonly substituted by light rare earths, lanthanum, yttrium, and thorium. It ranges in colour from wax-yellow to reddish-brown. Bastnaesite is commonly associated with other rare-earth-bearing minerals such as allanite, cerite, and tysonite; it is often an alteration product of tysonite. Bastnaesite occurs in pegmatites near Pikes Peak, Colo. and with fluorite in Lincoln County, New Mexico; it is commercially mined at Mountain Pass, Calif. For detailed physical properties, see carbonate mineral (table)
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nəˌsaɪt