These specimens from the Siglo XX Mine present defined, brilliant, translucent and light orange colour monazite-(Ce) crystals. They are accompanied by hyaline quartz and black-brown cassiterite on matrix. Some are twinned. Monazite is found in small quantities in this mine.
Monazite gets its name from the Greek word μουάζω "monazein" meaning "to be alone," alluding to its isolated crystals and their rarity when they were first found. Monazite is generally found in granitic pegmatites, but these crystals are found in hydrothermal veins with tin and the absence of thorium (generally an accompanying element of monazite).