Monazite

Cerium Lanthanum Thorium Neodymium Yttrium Phosphate
(Ce, La, Th, Nd, Y)PO₄

Monazite is named after the Greek word monazit, which means 'to be alone', because when it was first discovered it was thought to be quite rare.

Monazite contains the following elements:

• Cerium
• Lanthanum
• Neodymium

It is known as the "rare earth" elements and it is a rich source of the radioactive element thorium. Rare earth elements are used in high performance magnets, as pigment in ceramics, in robot motors, x-ray screens, fibre optics, energy efficient lanthanum lamps and colour television tubes. Thorium is radioactive and is used in incandescent gas mantles and in fuel for nuclear reactors.

Monazite is actually three different minerals technically, but because of a lack of great differences between them they are referred to as one mineral, monazite. The three monazites have differences in the percentages of their chemical makeup and these differences are reflected in their respective names.