However, the growing demand for cobalt and the search for less dependence on African deposits leads to targeting other regions, so it is necessary to carry out exhaustive exploration to find out the potential of its reserves for a subsequent benefit of the mineral. The main exploitable deposits are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which have economic potential due to a strong influence on their mineralization processes. The great technological advances and the deep knowledge of the physical and chemical properties of this element have allowed to enhance its applications in various fields, such as: catalysts, paints, alloys for the mechanical and aerospace industries, as well as the medical sector and in recent times, its use within the rechargeable battery industry. HandlingĮxposure to cobalt (metal fumes and dust) should be limited to 0.05 mg/m 3 (8-hour time-weighted average 40-hour week).Cobalt, like other critical elements, is gaining in importance today. IsotopesĬobalt-60, an artificial isotope, is an important gamma ray source, and is extensively used as a tracer and a radiotherapeutic agent. Soils should contain 0.13 to 0.30 ppm of cobalt for proper animal nutrition. Cobalt carefully used in the form of the chloride, sulfate, acetate, or nitrate has been found effective in correcting a certain mineral deficiency disease in animals. A solution of the chloride is used as a sympathetic ink. It is the principal ingredient in Sevre's and Thenard's blue. The metal is used in electroplating because of its appearance, hardness, and resistance to oxidation.Ĭobalt salts have been used for centuries to produce brilliant and permanent blue colors in porcelain, glass, pottery, tiles, and enamels. Stellite alloys, containing cobalt, chromium, and tungsten, are used for high-speed, heavy-duty, high temperature cutting tools, and for dies.Ĭobalt is also used in other magnetic steels and stainless steels, and in alloys used in jet turbines and gas turbine generators. It is alloyed with iron, nickel and other metals to make Alnico, an alloy of unusual magnetic strength with many important uses. The transformation is sluggish and accounts in part for the wide variation in reported data on physical properties of cobalt. Cobalt tends to exist as a mixture of two allotropes over a wide temperature range. It has a metallic permeability of about two thirds that of iron. PropertiesĬobalt is a brittle, hard metal, resembling iron and nickel in appearance. Geological Survey has announced that the bottom of the north central Pacific Ocean may have cobalt-rich deposits at relatively shallow depths in water close to the the Hawaiian Islands and other U.S. Important ore deposits are found in Zaire, Morocco, and Canada. SourcesĬobalt occurs in the minerals cobaltite, smaltite, and erythrite, and is often associated with nickel, silver, lead, copper, and iron ores, from which it is most frequently obtained as a by-product. −3, −1, +1, +2, +3, +4, +5 (an amphoteric oxide)įrom the German word Kobald, goblin or evil spirit also from the Greek cobalos, mine. Supplimental colbalt is essential in sheep's diets to prevent the sheep disease Swayback, and to improve the wools quality.
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