Group 12 element zinc and cadmium which makes geological separation unlikely. As a consequence, cadmium is produced mainly as a byproduct from mining, smelting, and refining sulfidic ores of zinc, and, to a lesser degree, lead and copper. One place where metallic cadmium can be found is the Vilyuy River basin in Siberia. Although mercury is an extremely rare element in the Earth's crust, because it does not blend geochemically with those elements that constitute the majority of the crustal mass, mercury ores can be highly concentrated considering the element's abundance in ordinary rock. The richest mercury ores contain up to 2.5% mercury
History of chemistry colors with acidity. In 1702, German chemist Georg Stahl coined the name "phlogiston" for the substance believed to be released in the process of burning. Around 1735, Swedish chemist Georg Brandt analyzed a dark blue pigment found in copper ore. Brandt demonstrated that the pigment contained a new element, later named cobalt. In 1751, a Swedish chemist and pupil of Stahl's named Axel Fredrik Cronstedt, identified an impurity in copper ore as a separate metallic element, which he named nickel. Cronstedt is one of the founders of modern mineralogy. Cronstedt also discovered the mineral scheelite in 1751, which he named