Posted on 12/03/2021 8:20:04 PM PST by bitt
he name “cobalt” comes from the German word kobold, which translates as “goblin” or “evil spirit.” When sixteenth-century miners in Saxony discovered the metal, they thought they had stumbled upon silver, yet it was later revealed that the ores were poor in metals that were known at the time. Upon smelting, the ore (where cobalt is twinned with arsenic, resulting in cobalt arsenide) was found to produce poisonous fumes and became known for causing “mischievous effects”1 upon miners’ health. Then, as now, the element had a dubious reputation.2
Although once it was feared for its toxic health effects,3 today the focus is more on the adverse consequences that cobalt’s scarcity could have on Western economies. Meanwhile, human rights organizations are concerned about the poisonous effects that cobalt can have on the communities where it is extracted and the social misery its production sometimes inflicts. Goethe’s Faust contains the line “and Kobold shall slave,” which has a timely resonance given the Faustian pacts some have made in order to secure access to this critical material, which indeed slaves away at the heart of modern energy storage devices.
Policymakers, vexed by the challenge that the material’s importance poses to their nations’ security, could be forgiven for following the Saxonian miners in believing that this metal is cursed by goblins. Yet according to folklore, goblins will bring good things to the people they live with, as long as they are treated well.4 But should the relationship turn sour, a goblin’s retribution can be stinging.
For those who have secured access to the cobalt supply chain, the “goblin ore” is currently treating them very well. Once adequate provision is made for its extraction and refinement, the material imparts unique properties to the devices manufactured with it. Others have been less prepared. Those nations which have not secured sufficient supplies of cobalt face the risk that their industries will meet with the same disappointment as the miners who, believing they had discovered silver, ended up with only a pile of black ash and a nasty smell in the room.
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What Metallurgist doesn’t love Cobalt?
Smoking cobalt cigarettes
The vibrancy of cobalt blue glass cannot be surpassed, especially that refined cobalt blue used in stained glass.
When I’m in a Dentist’s Chair or preparing for surgery, I think about the color of that glass to stay calm.
Pretty interesting article.
With a good 2/3rds of US politicians eager to extract grift from the Chinese in any way they can get away with and our new national policies of internally screwing ourselves any way possible (and constantly inventing more) while the Chinese are bound and determined to overtake the US in as many ways as possible, it’s hard to see a rosy ending or even future for this grand game.
When stars go Supernova Cobalt 60 continues to light the spot with its radioactive glow. Since Cobalt is used to harden value seats its wear products get activated by traveling through a reactor . A major source of unwanted radioactivity.
Long read but very informative. Thank you!
Sidebar: In WW2 the Allied invasion of North Africa cut Germany off from their principle source of cobalt for alloying steels for engine valves and valve seats. Result was that their aircraft engines had a much shorter service life than Allied engines. Their jet engines were especially short-lived for lack of high temperature alloys for the hot-section blades and buckets.
Assuring access to such critical materials must be a top priority for the USA. As it stand now, China can strangle our cobalt supply chain at will.
Why do writers write like this? The topic paragraph doesn’t answer the question? Three paragraphs in still the author waxing eloquent without a hint of an answer. It’s not just to force a click to the site which one ought to do to support the writer. Journalists aren’t taught the basics, so it seems.
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