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Occurrence and Production of Bismuth
Occurrence
In the Earth's crust, bismuth is about twice as abundant as gold. It is not usually economical to mine it as a primary product. Rather, it is usually produced as a byproduct of the processing of other metal ores, especially lead, but also tungsten or other metal alloys.
The most important ores of bismuth are bismuthinite and bismite. In 2005, China was the top producer of bismuth with at least 40% world share followed by Mexico and Peru reports the British Geological Survey.
The average price for bismuth in 2000 was US$ 7.70 per kilogram. It is relatively cheap, since like lead (but to a much lesser extent), it is radiogenic, being formed from the natural decay of uranium and thorium (specifically, by way of neptunium-237 or uranium-233).