monazite-(Ce)
{{Short description|Crystalline CePO4}}
{{infobox mineral
| name = Monazite-(Ce)
| category = Phosphate mineral
| image = Monazite-(Ce)-Quartz-242332.jpg
| imagesize =
| alt =
| caption = Monazite-(Ce), Quartz.
Locality: Siglo Veinte Mine (Siglo XX Mine; Llallagua Mine; Catavi), Llallagua, Rafael Bustillo Province, Potosí Department, Bolivia (Locality at mindat.org).
Size: 3.5 × 2.6 × 1.3 cm.
| formula = CePO4
| strunz =
| dana =
| system = Monoclinic
| class = Prismatic: 2/m
| symmetry = P21/b
| unit cell = a = 6.7902, b = 7.0203, c = 6.4674 [Å]; β = 103.6°
| color =
| habit =
| twinning =
| cleavage =
| fracture =
| tenacity =
| mohs =
| luster =
| streak =
| diaphaneity =
| gravity =
| density =
| polish =
| opticalprop =
| refractive =
| birefringence =
| pleochroism =
| 2V =
| dispersion =
| extinction =
| length fast/slow =
| fluorescence =
| absorption =
| melt =
| fusibility =
| diagnostic =
| solubility =
| impurities =
| alteration =
| other =
| references = Mindat, Monazite-(Ce), https://www.mindat.org/min-2751.html
}}
Monazite-(Ce) (CePO4) is the most common representative of the monazite group. It is the cerium-dominant analogue of monazite-(La), monazite-(Nd), and monazite-(Sm). It is also the phosphorus analogue of gasparite-(Ce). The group contains simple rare earth phosphate minerals with the general formula of AXO4, where A = Ce, La, Nd, or Sm (or, rarely, Bi), and X = P or, rarely, As. The A site may also bear Ca and Th.Mindat, Monazite Group, https://www.mindat.org/min-29313.html