Bastnasite rare earth ore product. Hands holding a vial of leached concentrate of the rare earth ore bastnasite. This ore mostly contains the rare earth element cerium, as well as lanthanum and yttrium. This sample is from Mountain Pass rare earth mine, located in the Clark Mountain Range, California, USA. Operated by Molycorp, it is the only rare earth oxide (REO) mine in the Western hemisphere and the world's largest such mine outside of China. This ore is finely ground, and various chemical and mechanical methods used to separate the rare earth oxides from the ore. The leaching process uses hydrochloric acid. Photographed in October 2011.