monazite

noun

mon·​a·​zite ˈmä-nə-ˌzīt 

: a yellow to red or brown mineral that is a phosphate of thorium and various rare earth elements and occurs especially in sand and gravel deposits

Examples of monazite in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The same system, most of which was installed in the late 1970s or early ‘80s, has been modified to also process the rare earth-bearing monazite sands on a smaller scale. —Zak Podmore, The Salt Lake Tribune, 26 Sep. 2021

The project involves processing monazite sands in Utah to produce rare earth carbonates, then shipping them to Estonia for processing. —Mary Hui, Quartz, 5 Apr. 2023

There are a bunch of uncommon minerals like zircon, monazite and sphene that can take a beating and persist. —Erik Klemetti, Discover Magazine, 27 Oct. 2016

While Energy Fuels could increase its supply to Neo, that depends on its ability to source additional monazite sands. —Mary Hui, Quartz, 30 Mar. 2022

The monazite sands, mined in Georgia by the chemical giant Chemours, contain up to 0.3% uranium — roughly the same uranium content as uranium ore mined in southeastern Utah — and include 50% to 60% rare earth content. —Zak Podmore, The Salt Lake Tribune, 22 Mar. 2021

The facility processed its first shipment of radioactive monazite sands from the state of Georgia over the summer and produced a batch of rare earth carbonite, which is being exported to Estonia for further processing. —Alastair Lee Bitsóí, The Salt Lake Tribune, 14 Oct. 2021

Earlier in the summer, the mill processed its first shipment of radioactive monazite sands from a Georgia mine and successfully produced rare earth carbonite along with its staple product: yellowcake uranium. —Zak Podmore, The Salt Lake Tribune, 26 Sep. 2021

Chemours, the firm providing monazite sands to Energy Fuels, similarly has a significance presence in China. —Mary Hui, Quartz, 11 Mar. 2021

Word History

Etymology

German Monazit, from Greek monazein

First Known Use

1836, in the meaning defined above