The goal is to locate the sulfur in leonardo 's ground layer , the tin in the white prime layer and the chemicals in the color pigments , like the mercury in vermilion and the copper in blue pigments of azurite .
So geochemist robert hazen of the carnegie institution of washington in washington , d. c. , and colleagues traced the origins of nearly 3000 common terrestrial minerals -- such as turquoise , azurite , and malachite -- to about a dozen ancient minerals .