cobalt

-[ Cobalt ]-[ Atomic number: 27 ]-[ Chemical symbol: Co ]-

Cobalt is a silvery, hard metal, rarely found in an elemental form on Earth.
Aluminium oxides of Cobalt have been known for centuries for the vivid blue
colouring they produce, used to colour ceramics and tint glass. Cobalt is so
named for "kobold", German for "goblin", as its ore is poor in metal and tends
to release toxic fumes when smelted.

While naturally rare in elemental form, it can be found in relatively high
purity in small deposits in meteors than have landed on Earth from space. Most
industrial production, however, comes from the "Copperbelt" region of intense
metal mining in the Democractic Republic of Congo, as well as Zambia.

Aside from use in decorative and artistic industries, Cobalt is used to produce
high-performance superalloys, such as those needed in jet engines, as well as
in the rechargable Lithium-Ion batteries used in consumer electronics.