Cobalt

Cobalt is a <a href="/facts/Chemical_element/0jducgWD">chemical element</a>; it has <a href="/facts/Symbol_(chemistry)/2Fe1VAL0">symbol</a> Co and <a href="/facts/Atomic_number/bgAr581S">atomic number</a> 27. As with <a href="/facts/Nickel/KwMCHYRP">nickel</a>, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural <a href="/facts/Meteoric_iron/pRaMdRz6">meteoric iron</a>. The <a href="/facts/Free_element/dPTEISA9">free element</a>, produced by reductive <a href="/facts/Smelting/Ghdvhlga">smelting</a>, is a hard, lustrous, somewhat brittle, gray <a href="/facts/Metal/PT8hNX6R">metal</a>.
Cobalt-based blue pigments (<a href="/facts/Cobalt_blue/rVImlMf3">cobalt blue</a>) have been used since antiquity for jewelry and paints, and to impart a distinctive blue tint to glass. The color was long thought to be due to the metal <a href="/facts/Bismuth/75FLjkoX">bismuth</a>. Miners had long used the name <a href="/facts/Kobold/GCsXVHvP">kobold</a> ore (<a href="/facts/German_language/oWaQIDA8">German</a> for <a href="/facts/Goblin/5z16X9mR">goblin</a> ore) for some of the blue pigment-producing <a href="/facts/Mineral/LkUFbNmv">minerals</a>. They were so named because they were poor in known metals and gave off poisonous <a href="/facts/Arsenic/k1c4f44D">arsenic</a>-containing fumes when smelted. In 1735, such ores were found to be reducible to a new metal (the first discovered since ancient times), which was ultimately named for the kobold.
Today, some cobalt is produced specifically from one of a number of metallic-lustered ores, such as <a href="/facts/Cobaltite/SPvqHQ1p">cobaltite</a> (CoAsS). The element is more usually produced as a by-product of <a href="/facts/Copper/I8PEE8oX">copper</a> and nickel mining. The <a href="/facts/Copperbelt/fT54NSkm">Copperbelt</a> in the <a href="/facts/Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo/E2KmHDdv">Democratic Republic of the Congo</a> (DRC) and <a href="/facts/Zambia/lCnlx5a1">Zambia</a> yields most of the global cobalt production. World production in 2016 was 116,000 tonnes (114,000 long tons; 128,000 short tons) (according to <a href="/facts/Natural_Resources_Canada/yKaYva1v">Natural Resources Canada</a>), and the DRC alone accounted for more than 50%.
Cobalt is primarily used in <a href="/facts/Lithium-ion_batteries/3L22xFhB">lithium-ion batteries</a>, and in the manufacture of <a href="/facts/Magnetic/eo75vApl">magnetic</a>, wear-resistant and high-strength <a href="/facts/Alloy/I7w7WQWR">alloys</a>. The compounds cobalt silicate and <a href="/facts/Cobalt_blue/rVImlMf3">cobalt(II) aluminate</a> (CoAl2O4, cobalt blue) give a distinctive deep blue color to <a href="/facts/Glass/hezRsAGf">glass</a>, <a href="/facts/Ceramic/9JKudpqX">ceramics</a>, <a href="/facts/Ink/Y7Wj0YQS">inks</a>, <a href="/facts/Paint/Q176AsIG">paints</a> and <a href="/facts/Varnish/sK905uXj">varnishes</a>. Cobalt occurs naturally as only one stable <a href="/facts/Isotope/KD9B1y6o">isotope</a>, cobalt-59. <a href="/facts/Cobalt-60/hjDPVA8M">Cobalt-60</a> is a commercially important radioisotope, used as a <a href="/facts/Radioactive_tracer/0210Jncn">radioactive tracer</a> and for the production of high-energy <a href="/facts/Gamma_ray/5Drf913J">gamma rays</a>. Cobalt is also used in the petroleum industry as a catalyst when refining crude oil. This is to purge it of sulfur, which is very polluting when burned and causes acid rain.
Cobalt is the active center of a group of <a href="/facts/Coenzymes/AGo0PCUU">coenzymes</a> called <a href="/facts/Cobalamin/vCk613gD">cobalamins</a>. <a href="/facts/Vitamin_B12/vCk613gD">Vitamin B12</a>, the best-known example of the type, is an essential <a href="/facts/Vitamin/SnW0LYBL">vitamin</a> for all animals. Cobalt in inorganic form is also a <a href="/facts/Micronutrient/nwzKuSMQ">micronutrient</a> for <a href="/facts/Bacteria/wC8xSCsU">bacteria</a>, <a href="/facts/Algae/U1ftVKU3">algae</a>, and <a href="/facts/Fungi/BHo5DP59">fungi</a>.
The name cobalt derives from a type of ore considered a nuisance by 16th century German silver miners, which in turn may have been named from a spirit or goblin held superstitiously responsible for it; this spirit is considered equitable to the <a href="/facts/Kobold/GCsXVHvP">kobold</a> (a <a href="/facts/Household_spirit/MMo83HlX">household spirit</a>) by some, or, categorized as a <a href="/facts/Gnome/fEw953z6">gnome</a> (mine spirit) by others.

Cobalt open-in-new

Cobalt