That’s interesting! Thanks for sharing! I’ve never bought or handled bismuth myself, but the sources I read said it was rare. For instance, here (https://scienceviews.com/geology/bismuth.html): “Naturally-occurring bismuth metal (known as native bismuth) is rare in nature, and does not occur in large enough quantities to be mined as a source of bismuth. More often it combines with other elements to form minerals such as bismithunite (bismuth sulfide, Bi2S3) and bismite (bismuth oxide, Bi2O3).”

Maybe it’s one of those elements that used to be rare, like aluminum, but which is abundant now due to modern extraction methods?

Either way, I’m now curious what you use bismuth for…