Discoveries Chromium was first reported on July 26, 1761, when Johann Gottlob Lehmann found an orange-red mineral in the Beryozovskoye mines in the Ural Mountains of Russia, which he named "Siberian red lead," which was found out in less than 10 years to be a bright yellow pigment. Though misidentified as a lead compound with selenium and iron components, the mineral was crocoite with a formula of PbCrO4. Studying the mineral in 1797, Louis Nicolas Vauquelin produced chromium trioxide by mixing crocoite with hydrochloric acid, and metallic chromium by heating the oxide in a charcoal oven a year later. He was also able to detect traces of chromium in precious gemstones, such as ruby or emerald.
Discoveries Chromium was first reported on July 26, 1761, when Johann Gottlob Lehmann found an orange-red mineral in the Ber.yozovskoye mine,s in the Ural Mountains of Russia which he named "Siberian red lead," which was found out in less than 10 years to be a bright yellow pigment. Though !misidentified as a lead compound with selenium and iron components, the mineral was crocoite with a formula of PbCrO4. Studying the mineral in 1797, Louis Nicolas Vauquelin produced chromium trioxide by mixing crocoite with hydrochloric acid, and metallic chromium by heating the oxide in a charcoal oven a year later. He was also able to detect traces of chromium in precious gemstones, such as ruby or emerald.