Cobalt "goblin", a superstitious term used for the ore of cobalt by miners. The first attempts to smelt those ores for copper or nickel failed, yielding simply powder (cobalt(II) oxide) instead. Because the primary ores of cobalt always contain arsenic, smelting the ore oxidized the arsenic into the highly toxic and volatile arsenic oxide, adding to the notoriety of the ore. Swedish chemist Georg Brandt (1694–1768) is credited with discovering cobalt circa 1735, showing it to be a previously unknown element, different from bismuth and other traditional metals. Brandt called it a new "semi-metal". He showed that compounds of cobalt metal
Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt buying cobalt mined by hand in DRC entirely. Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Huayou Cobalt Co., Ltd is primarily a supplier of cobalt, including cobalt tetroxide, cobalt oxide, cobalt carbonate, cobalt hydroxide, cobalt oxalate, cobalt sulfate, and cobalt monoxide. It is headquartered in the Tongxiang Economic Development Zone of Zhejiang, China. A subsidiary, Congo DongFang International Mining, has been involved in several controversies around sourcing of cobalt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to a joint Amnesty International and African Resources Watch report, Congo DongFang International Mining, a subsidiary of Huayou Cobalt, sources cobalt from primitive "artisanal" mines in the