[33] Grimms' dictionary entries equated the word "kobel" with "kobold", and listed it as a mere variant diminutive,[45] but the latter is defined in it as a household spirit.

[c][50] However, by around the same time in Germany, the alternate etymology not endorsed by Grimm (kob/kof "house, chamber" + walt "power, ruler") was being proposed as more convincing.

[51][52] Somewhat later, Paul Kretschmer (1928) explained that while this "house ruler" etymology was the proper one that backed the original meaning of kobold as household spirit, a corruption later occurred introducing the idea of "mine demon" to it.

Karl Müller-Fraureuth conjectured that kobelt derived from Kübel, a bucket used in mining, frequently mentioned by Agricola,[51] namely the kobel/köbel (Latinized as modulus).

[56] Another theory given by the Etymologisches Wörterbuch derives the term from kōbathium[54] or rather cobathia (κωβάθια, "arsenic sulfide"[57]) which occurs as noxious fumes.

[66] Swedish chemist Georg Brandt (1694–1768) is credited with discovering cobalt c. 1735, showing it to be a previously unknown element, distinct from bismuth and other traditional metals.

All previously known metals (iron, copper, silver, gold, zinc, mercury, tin, lead and bismuth) had no recorded discoverers.

[78] It has been argued that cobalt will be one of the main objects of geopolitical competition in a world running on renewable energy and dependent on batteries, but this perspective has also been criticised for underestimating the power of economic incentives for expanded production.

Except as recently delivered in meteoric iron, free cobalt (the native metal) is not found on Earth's surface because of its tendency to react with oxygen in the atmosphere.

It is the major metallic component that combines with sulfur and arsenic in the sulfidic cobaltite (CoAsS), safflorite (CoAs2), glaucodot ((Co,Fe)AsS), and skutterudite (CoAs3) minerals.

[84] When it reaches the atmosphere, weathering occurs; the sulfide minerals oxidize and form pink erythrite ("cobalt glance": Co3(AsO4)2·8H2O) and spherocobaltite (CoCO3).

[99] The Mukondo Mountain project, operated by the Central African Mining and Exploration Company (CAMEC) in Katanga Province, may be the richest cobalt reserve in the world.

[106] On March 9, 2018, President Joseph Kabila updated the 2002 mining code, increasing royalty charges and declaring cobalt and coltan "strategic metals".

[110] Some 100,000 cobalt miners in Congo DRC use hand tools to dig hundreds of feet, with little planning and fewer safety measures, say workers and government and NGO officials, as well as The Washington Post reporters' observations on visits to isolated mines.

[111] Mining pollutes the vicinity and exposes local wildlife and indigenous communities to toxic metals thought to cause birth defects and breathing difficulties, according to health officials.

Mining companies are adopting and practising ESG initiatives in line with OECD Guidance and putting in place evidence of zero to low carbon footprint activities in the supply chain production of lithium-ion batteries.

The political and ethnic dynamics of the region have in the past caused outbreaks of violence and years of armed conflict and displaced populations.

This instability affected the price of cobalt and also created perverse incentives for the combatants in the First and Second Congo Wars to prolong the fighting, since access to diamond mines and other valuable resources helped to finance their military goals—which frequently amounted to genocide—and also enriched the fighters themselves.

While DR Congo has in the 2010s not recently been invaded by neighboring military forces, some of the richest mineral deposits adjoin areas where Tutsis and Hutus still frequently clash, unrest continues although on a smaller scale and refugees still flee outbreaks of violence.

Because of accused labour violations and environmental concerns, LG Chem subsequently audited Congo DongFang in accordance with OECD guidelines.

[128] Since child and slave labor have been repeatedly reported in cobalt mining, primarily in the artisanal mines of DR Congo, technology companies seeking an ethical supply chain have faced shortages of this raw material and[129] the price of cobalt metal reached a nine-year high in October 2017, more than US$30 a pound, versus US$10 in late 2015.

By 2022, the country had become the world's second-largest cobalt producer, with Benchmark Mineral Intelligence forecasting Indonesian output to make up 20 percent of global production by 2030.

This industry increased five-fold in its demand for cobalt from 2016 to 2020, which made it urgent to find new raw materials in more stable areas of the world.

Smalt is produced by melting a mixture of roasted mineral smaltite, quartz and potassium carbonate, which yields a dark blue silicate glass, which is finely ground after the production.

A minimal presence of cobalt in soils therefore markedly improves the health of grazing animals, and an uptake of 0.20 mg/kg a day is recommended, because they have no other source of vitamin B12.

Methylmalonyl coenzyme A mutase (MUT) converts MMl-CoA to Su-CoA, an important step in the extraction of energy from proteins and fats.

In the early 20th century, during the development of farming on the North Island Volcanic Plateau of New Zealand, cattle suffered from what was termed "bush sickness".

[194][195] The "coast disease" of sheep in the Ninety Mile Desert of the Southeast of South Australia in the 1930s was found to originate in nutritional deficiencies of trace elements cobalt and copper.

[199] In the US, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has designated a permissible exposure limit (PEL) in the workplace as a time-weighted average (TWA) of 0.1 mg/m3.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has set a recommended exposure limit (REL) of 0.05 mg/m3, time-weighted average.