 Occurrence
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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).
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