Some specimens have been cut from there and in fact a large 6.62 carat orange stone is the North American record holder for this species. But burbankite is far too rare to be considered a mainstream gemstone. Its crystal habit is reminiscent of apatite although its color and size is generally quite different. Burbankite's crystals are typically quite small but well formed and make good micromounts. Burbankite has some unusual chemistry as it is enriched in rare elements such as strontium, barium and cerium.
Cerium is just one of the several rare earth metals that are important to industry.
A closely related mineral is called carbocernaite . Both minerals are considered to be important in the development of rare earth minerals in carbonatite rocks and are being studied for this reason. Some rare earth minerals have been found to make pseudomorphs of burbankite and carbocernaite. A testament perhaps of how they play a role in the rare earth minerals' development. Some specimens of what was thought to be burbankite have been identified as a new species to science called remondite .