Vanadium

Why in news?

• Exploration being carried out by Geological Survey of India (GSI) in Arunachal Pradesh are likely to identify deposits of vanadium soon.
• GSI has found promising concentrations of vanadium in the palaeo-proterozoic carbonaceous phyllite rocks in the Depo and Tamang areas of Arunachal Pradesh’s Papum Pare district

About Vanadium:

• Vanadium is a chemical element with the symbol V and atomic number 23. It is a hard, silvery-grey, malleable transition metal.
• The elemental metal is rarely found in nature, but once isolated artificially, the formation of an oxide layer (passivation) somewhat stabilizes the free metal against further oxidation.
• Vanadium in its pure form is primarily derived from mined iron ore, carbonaceous shale or phyllites and steel slag.
• According to the Indian Bureau of Mines (2018 database), the total estimated reserves or resources of vanadium ore is 24.63 million tonne.

Uses

• Approximately 85% of the vanadium produced is used as ferrovanadium or as a steel additive as it can create  considerable increase of strength in steel.
• Vanadium alloys are durable in extreme temperature and environments, and are corrosion-resistant.
• Its addition improves the tensile strength of steel and of reinforcing bars used for buildings, tunnels and bridges.
• Vanadium stabilizes the beta form of titanium and increases the strength and temperature stability of titanium.
• Vanadium Titanium alloys have applications in jet engines, high-speed airframes, defence industry, bicycle industry and even dental implants.

India:

• India is a significant consumer of vanadium but is not a primary producer of the strategic metal.
• According to data provided by GSI, India consumed 4% of about 84,000 metric tonnes of vanadium produced across the globe in 2017.
• China, which produces 57% of the world’s vanadium, consumed 44% of the metal.

PRELIMS QUESTION

Consider the following statements regarding Vanadium:
1.It is the rarest element on Earth’s surface.
2.It is primarily used as alloys in combination with metals like Steel and Titanium.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a)1 only
(b)2 only
(c)Both 1 and 2
(d)Neither 1 nor 2

Answer to Prelims Question