Monazite-(Ce) mineral
Monazite-(Ce) is the cerium-dominant phosphate mineral species with ideal formula Ce(PO4), distinct from elemental cerium, other monazite species and mixed monazite-bearing ores. Ni, Hughes and Mariano (1995) characterized a natural crystal from the Kangankunde carbonatite, Malawi, using chemical analysis and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Its monoclinic P2_1/n structure has nine-coordinate rare-earth sites. The natural crystal contains other rare-earth elements; the separately studied synthetic CePO4 crystal is not that specimen. This structural study establishes neither microbial transformation nor metal recovery. No dated criticality designation or industrial deployment is assigned.
Sources & References
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ima_2026_09: IMA-CNMNC. The New IMA List of Minerals, September 2026; PDF page 1 field definitions and page 146 Monazite-(Ce) row: Ce(PO4), Rn (renamed), 1966 s.p. The special-procedure year is not a unique species accession.
https://cnmnc.units.it/files/editor/IMA_Master_List_(2026-09).pdf (accessed 2026-10-12) -
ni1995: Ni Y, Hughes JM and Mariano AN (1995). Crystal chemistry of the monazite and xenotime structures. American Mineralogist 80, 21-26. DOI 10.2138/am-1995-1-203. Natural specimens and methods pp. 21-22; natural versus synthetic columns in Tables 1-2; structure discussion and Figures 1-5. Deposited Tables 4-5 located but not inspected; no raw refinement values imported.
https://www.msaweb.org/MSA/AmMin/TOC/Articles_Free/1995/Ni_p21-26_95.pdf (accessed 2026-10-12)
Curation History
| Timestamp | Curator | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
2026-10-12T07:41:05Z |
codex (GPT-6; codex) | create | Created Monazite-(Ce) as a distinct natural mineral species from Ni et al. (1995) and the dated IMA authority, separating synthetic comparators and experimental feeds. |
Record source: data/records/monazite-ce.yaml