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Indian Minerals Yearbook 2013

(Part- II : Metals & Alloys)

52nd Edition

VANADIUM

(FINAL RELEASE)

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINES

INDIAN BUREAU OF MINES

Indira Bhavan, Civil Lines, NAGPUR 440 001

PHONE/FAX NO. (0712) 2565471 PBX : (0712) 2562649, 2560544, 2560648

E-MAIL : cme@ibm.gov.in Website: www.ibm.gov.in

May, 2015

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19 Vanadium

V anadium is a scarce element and occursnaturally in about 65 different minerals andin fossil fuel deposits. It occurs in associationwith titaniferous magnetite and recovered as a by-produc t dur ing i ron & s tee l manufac ture .Vanadium is also concentrated in many end-products of organic material including coal andcrude oil, oil shale & tar sands. In addition,vanadium present in bauxite can also be recoveredas vanadium sludge from red mud during theproduction of alumina. Vanadium is becoming morewidely used in green technology application,especially in battery technology.

RESOURCESIn India, vanadium is associated with titani-

ferous magnetite which contains 0.8 to 3% V2O5. Italso occurs in significant amounts in association withchromite, laterite, bauxite and ferro-magnesium-richrocks, such as pyroxenite, anorthosite and gabbro.

As per UNFC system, the total estimatedresources of vanadium ore as on 1.4.2010 areplaced at 24.72 million tonnes with an estimatedV2O5 content of 64,887 tonnes. Out of the totalresources, the reserves are 0.41 million tonneshaving 1,603 tonnes of V2O5 content while theremaining resources are 24.31 million tonneshaving 63,284 tonnes of V2O5 content (Table-1).

Table 1 : Reserves/Resources of Vanadium as on 1.4.2010(By Grades/States)

(In tonnes)

Reserves Remaining Resources

Proved Probable Total Prefeasibility Indicated Inferred Total TotalGrade/State STD111 STD122 (A) STD221 STD222 STD332 STD333 (B) resources(A+B)

All India: TotalBy GradesO r e 293539 117416 410955 1720000 4000000 232000 18355933 24307933 24718888Contained V2O5 1144.8 457.92 1602.72 2835 5600 487.2 54362.25 63284.45 64887.21By States

Karnataka

Ore 500000 4000000 14884430 19384430 19384430 Contained V2O5 700 5600 43197.55 49497.55 49497.55

Maharashtra

Ore 293539 117416 410955 58708 58708 469663 Contained V2O5 1144.8 457.92 1602.72 229 229 1831.72

OdishaOre 1220000 232000 3412795 4864795 4864795

Contained V2O5 2135 487.2 10935.74 13557.94 13557.94

Figures rounded off.

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PRODUCTIONVanadium sludge is separated as a by-product

during the Bayer process for production of aluminahydra te . The vanadium s ludge obta ined a tBALCO's Korba plant contains 6 to 10% V2O5,Hindalco's Renukoot plant 18.2% V2O5 and Muriand Belgaum plants 6 to 20% V2O5. Nalco is notproducing vanadium sludge.

Production of ferro-vanadium during 2008-09to 2012-13 is given in Table-2.

Table 2: Production of Ferro-Vanadium 2008-09 to 2012-13

(In tonnes)

Year Production

2 0 0 8 - 0 9 1 5 0 12 0 0 9 - 1 0 1 3 8 92 0 1 0 - 1 1 1 5 2 12 0 1 1 - 1 2 2 4 5 92 0 1 2 - 1 3 7 9 6 *

Source: Indian Ferro-alloys Producers' Association.* MSMP, March,2013.

USESIt is used primarily as an alloying element in

iron & steel industry and to some extent as astabiliser in titanium and aluminium alloys whichare used in aerospace applications. It impartstoughness and strength to steel, alloys and alsoacts as scavenger for oxygen. Vanadium isconsumed in the steel industry in a wide range ofproducts, from low carbon flat rolled steels, highstrength plates and structural steels to pipes,reinforcing bars, forging steels, rail steels and toolsteels. Most of the vanadium (about 80%) is usedin the form of ferro-vanadium as a means ofintroducing vanadium into steel. The content ofvanadium in ferro-vanadium varies from 45 to 50%and sometimes it is up to 80%, depending uponthe demand. The 45 to 50% grade is produced fromslag and other vanadium containing material bysilicothermic reduction of vanadium pentoxide inpresence of steel scrap or by direct reduction inan electric arc furnace. The resultant vanadiumsteels can be divided into micro-alloy or low-alloysteels with less than 0.15% vanadium and high-alloy steels up to 5% vanadium. Non-metallurgical

applications include as catalyst and in ceramic,chemical, pigments, health preparations ande lec t ron ic indus t r i es . I t i s a l so used toproduce a super conductive magnet with a fieldof 175,000 gauss. The most common oxide ofvanadium V 2O 5 i s used as a ca ta lys t inmanufactauring sulphuric acid. Vanadium is amicro-nutrient found naturally in mushroom,shellfish, black pepper, parsley dill, grain and grainproducts. It exists as both vanadyl sulphate, theform most commonly used in food supplementsand vanadale.

New uses inc lude vanadium secondarybatteries for power plants and rechargeablevanadium redox battery (VRB) for commercialapplications. The main advantages of the VRBare that it can offer almost unlimited capacitysimply by using sequentially larger storage tanks,can be left completely discharged for long periodsof time with no ill effect, can be recharged byreplacing the electrolyte if no power source isavailable to charge it, and suffers no permanentdamage if the electrolytes are accidentally mixed.The VRB has also been shown to have the leasteco log ica l impac t o f a l l energy s to ragetechnologies.

SUBSTITUTESSubstitution of vanadium in steel by niobium,

chromium, titanium, manganese, molybdenum andtungsten is possible although at higher cost orwith lower performance. Heat-treated carbonsteels can replace vanadium steels in someapplications. Platinum and nickel can be used insome catalytic processes but at higher cost.Presently, there is no acceptable substitute forvanadium in aerospace titanium alloys.

CONSUMPTIONFerro-vanadium producing units in India

consume either imported V2O5 concentrates orindigenous vanadium sludge. The domesticavailability of vanadium sludge from aluminiumindustry is limited for ferro-vanadium productionand gap is met by imports. The consumption offerro-vanadium during 2010-11 to 2012-13 byvarious units in the organised sector is given inTable-3.

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Table 3 : Consumption ofFerro-Vanadium, 2010-11 to 2012-13

(By Industries)(In tonnes)

Industry 2010-11 2011-12(R) 2012-13(P)

All Industr ies 8 8 0 1109 1109Alloy steel 52(5) 26(5) 26(5)Foundry 4 ( 1 ) 4(1) 4(1)Iron & steel 824(10) 1079(11) 1079(11)

Figures in paren theses deno te the number o f un i t sreporting* consumption in organised sector.(*includes actual reported consumption and/or estimatesmade, wherever required).

WORLD REVIEWThe world reserves of vanadium in 2013

were about 14 million tonnes of metal locatedmainly in China, Russia, South Africa and the USAand are expected to last till next century at thecur ren t ra te o f consumpt ion (Tab le -4) .Titaniferous magnetite is the most importantsource accounting about 85% of current worldV2O5 production from which vanadium could beextracted as a by-product of iron. The resourcesare also available in crude oil (in Carribean basin,parts of Middle East and Russia), tar sands, (inWestern Canada), phosphate rock, uraniferoussandstone and siltstone. In all these cases,extraction depends on economic recovery of theproduct.

Table 4: World Reserves of Vanadium(By Principal Countries)

(In '000 tonnes of vanadium content)

Count ry Reserves

World : Total (rounded) 1 4 0 0 0China 5 1 0 0Russia 5 0 0 0South Africa 3 5 0 0USA 4 5Other countries N A

Source: Mineral Commodity Summaries,2014.

The world production of vanadium in 2012was estimated at about 74 thousand tonnes,excluding vanadium recovered as a by-product ofref in ing and burning of heavy o i l s . Majorproducing countries were South Africa, China andRussia (Table-5).

Nearly all the world's vanadium supply originatesfrom primary sources. Five countries recoveredvanadium from ores, concentrates, slag or petroleumresidues. Japan and the United States are probablythe only countries to recover significant quantitiesof vanadium from petroleum residues.

AustraliaAtlan t ic L td ' s Windimurra Vanadium

Project (Perth, Western Australia) started FeVproduction in January, 2012 and continued toramp up annual production to a capacity of6,300 tpy of contained vanadium in 2013.

BrazilLargo Resources Ltd (Toranto, Ontario,

Canada) commenced its Maracas Vanadium Projectlocated in Campo Alegre de Lourdes in the stateof Bahia in June, 2012. The company set aproduction target for summer 2013 with expectedproduction of 11,400 tonnes V2O5 equivalentduring 29 year mine life.

CanadaApella Resources Inc. (Vancouver) changed its

name to 'Pacific Ore Mining Corp.' in May, 2012.Apella decided to place its three vanadium-iron-titanium assets, viz., the Game Changer Project, theIron-Titanium Project and the Lac Dore Project intowholly owned subsidiaries. Apella sold its Lac DoreProject in Northern Quebec to its wholly-owned'Prestige Mining Resources Pty Ltd' and `IronTitaniferous Vanadium Project' to its wholly-owned'Power Vanadium Corpn'. The first phase ofexploration of Lac Dore Project was completed inMarch, 2012, whereas, Power Vanadium was expectedto deliver a feasibility study by the end of July 2014.

ChinaChina's Panzhihua New Steel and Vanadium

Co. Ltd (a subsidiary of Panzhihua Iron and SteelGroup) is the major producer that operates fromPanzhihua in Sichnan Province, the largestvanadium producing region of China. The secondleading vanadium producer in China is theChengde Xinxin Vanadium & Titanium Co. Ltd,associated with the steel and vanadiferous slagproduction in Hebei Province.

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Table 7 : Imports of Vanadium Ores & Conc.(By Countries)

2011-12 2012-13Country

Qty Value Qty Value(t) (L000) (t) (L000)

All Countries 109 10605 1 708UK - - 1 708Other countries 109 10605 - -

South AfricaXstrata plc 's Rhovan facil i ty recorded

5% increase in FeV product ion and s l igh tincrease in V2O5 production in 2012 as against2011. Vametco has an annual capaci tay toproduce 3,600 tonnes of vanadium trioxide, a highpurity product used in a variety of applications.Vameto also has an annual capacity to produce2 ,900 tonnes of 'Ni t rovan ' , a vanadium-nitrogen alloy which strengthens steel moreefficiently than FeV.

Table 5: World Mine Production of Vanadium(By Principal Countries)

(In tonnes of metal content)

Count ry 2 0 1 0 2 0 1 1 2 0 1 2

World: Total (rounded) 6 8 0 0 0 7 2 0 0 0 7 4 0 0 0China e 3 2 0 0 0 3 6 0 0 0 3 9 0 0 0

Kazakhstan e 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0

Russiae 1 2 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 1 5 0 0 0

South Africa 2 3 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 1 9 0 0 0

Source: World Mineral production, 2008-2012.Note: Include vanadium in slag product but exclude

vanadium recovered as a by-product of refiningand burning of heavy oil.

FOREIGN TRADENo exports and imports of vanadium & scrap

were reported in 2011-12. Exports of vanadium ores& concentrates during 2012-13 were 179 tonnesvalued at about L18.2 million to Belgium and Oman(Table -6) . Impor t s o f vanadium ores andconcentrates decreased sharply to 1 tonnesonly in 2012-13 from 109 tonnes in the previousyear (Table-7).

Table 6 : Exports of Vanadium Ores & Conc.(By Countries)

2011-12 2012-13Country

Qty Value Qty Value(t) (L'000) (t) (L000)

All Countries 1250 25841 179 18159Oman - - 10 12511Belgium - - 169 5631Bangladesh - - ++ 17Other countries 1250 25841 - -

FUTURE OUTLOOKThe worldwide demand for vanadium is

directly related to the demand for steel speciallywith demands of high-strength steel.

In vanadiumbatteries, the consumption may increase in future.

The future Indian alumina plants, being mostlybased on East Coast bauxite having a very lowcontent of vanadium will not be able to generateadequate quantity of vanadium sludge to meet theinternal demand. On the other hand, with growthof automobile and casting sectors, demand forferro-vanadium is expected to increase and thishas to be met by imports. The accelerated growthin the forging industry and increased demand fordie steels and tool s teel paved the way forincreased vanadium consumption. Steps are alsonecessary to ut i l ise huge vanadium-bearingtitaniferous ores available in Indian states; viz,Karnataka, Maharashtra and Odisha, through R&Defforts to meet the domestic demand of vanadiumpentoxide and ferro-vanadium.