In oxidation state +3, bismuth forms trihalides with all of the halogens: BiF3, BiCl3, BiBr3, and BiI3. All of these except BiF3 are hydrolyzed by water.Bismuth(III) chloride reacts with hydrogen chloride in ether solution to produce the acid HBiCl4.The oxidation state +5 is less frequently encountered. One such compound is BiF5, a powerful oxidizing and fluorinating agent. It is also a strong fluoride acceptor, reacting with xenon tetrafluoride to form the XeF+3 cation:
BiF5 + XeF4 → XeF+3BiF−6

Aqueous species
In aqueous solution, the Bi3+ ion is solvated to form the aqua ion Bi(H2O)3+8 in strongly acidic conditions. At pH > 0 polynuclear species exist, the most important of which is believed to be the octahedral complex [Bi6O4(OH)4]6+. Occurrence and production
In the Earths crust, bismuth is about twice as abundant as gold. The most important ores of bismuth are bismuthinite and bismite. Native bismuth is known from Australia, Bolivia, and China. The difference between mining and refining production reflects bismuths status as a byproduct of extraction of other metals such as lead, copper, tin, molybdenum and tungsten. World bismuth production from refineries is a more complete and reliable statistic.Bismuth travels in crude lead bullion (which can contain up to 10% bismuth) through several stages of refining, until it is removed by the Kroll-Betterton process which separates the impurities as slag, or the electrolytic Betts process. Bismuth will behave similarly with another of its major metals, copper. The raw bismuth metal from both processes contains still considerable amounts of other metals, foremost lead.
This was based on observation of the metals and their physical properties.Miners in the age of alchemy also gave bismuth the name tectum argenti, or "silver being made" in the sense of silver still in the process of being formed within the Earth.Bismuth was also known to the Incas and used (along with the usual copper and tin) in a special bronze alloy for knives. Beginning with Johann Heinrich Pott in 1738, Carl Wilhelm Scheele, and Torbern Olof Bergman, the distinctness of lead and bismuth became clear, and Claude François Geoffroy demonstrated in 1753 that this metal is distinct from lead and tin. Characteristics
Physical characteristics
Bismuth is a brittle metal with a dark, silver-pink hue, often with an iridescent oxide tarnish showing many colors from yellow to blue. The spiral, stair-stepped structure of bismuth crystals is the result of a higher growth rate around the outside edges than on the inside edges. The variations in the thickness of the oxide layer that forms on the surface of the crystal cause different wavelengths of light to interfere upon reflection, thus displaying a rainbow of colors. When burned in oxygen, bismuth burns with a blue flame and its oxide forms yellow fumes. Its toxicity is much lower than that of its neighbors in the periodic table, such as lead, antimony, and polonium. No other metal is verified to be more naturally diamagnetic than bismuth. (Superdiamagnetism is a different physical phenomenon.)