Cobautis achemical elementwi symbolCoan atomic nummer 27. Lik nickel, cobaut in the Yird's crust is foond anly in chemically combined furm, save for smaa deposits foond in alloys o naituralmeteoric iron.The free element, produced bi reductivesmeltin,is a haird, lustrous, siller-graymetal.
Cobaut-based blue pigments (cobalt blue) hae been uised syne auncient times for jewelry an pents, an tae impairt a distinctive blue tint tae gless, but the colour wis later thocht bi alchemists tae be due tae the kent metalbismuth.Miners haed lang uised the namekoboldure(German forgoblin ure) for some o the blue-pigment producinminerals;thay war sae named acause thay war puir in kent metals, an gae pushionousarsenic-containin fumes whan smeltit. In 1735, sic ures war foond tae be reducible tae a new metal (the first diskivert syne ancient times), an this wis ultimately named for thekobold.
The day, some cobaut is produced speceefically frae ane o a nummer o metallic-lustered ures, sic as for examplecobaltite(CoAsS). The element is houiver mair uisually produced as a bi-product ocapperannickelminin.The capper beltin theDemocratic Republic o the Congo(DRC) anZambieyields maist o the global cobalt production. The DRC alane accountit for mair nor 50% o warld production in 2016 (123,000 tonnes), accordin taeNatural Resources Canada.[4]
↑Danielle Bochove (1 November 2017). "Electric car future spurs Cobalt rush: Swelling demand for product breathes new life into small Ontario town".Vancouver Sun.Bloomberg.