Domestic Vanadium Deposits | 12 Jan 2021
Why in News
A recent exploration by Geological Survey of India (GSI) has found reserves of Vanadium in Arunachal Pradesh.
- GSI is an attached office to the Ministry of Mines.
Key Points
- About Vanadium:
- Vanadium is a chemical element with the symbol V.
- It is a scarce element, hard, silvery grey, ductile and malleable transition metal with good structural strength.
- Transition metals are all the elements in groups 3–12 of the periodic table. These are superior conductors of heat as well as electricity.
- Ores:
- Patronite, vanadinite, roscoelite and carnotite.
- Uses:
- Vanadium is used primarily as an alloying element in the Iron & Steel Industry and to some extent as a stabiliser in titanium and aluminium alloys used in the aerospace Industry.
- Modern applications of vanadium include its use as vanadium secondary batteries for power plants and rechargeable Vanadium Redox Battery (VRB) for commercial applications.
- Vanadium alloys are used in nuclear reactors because of vanadium's low neutron-absorbing properties.
- Reserves of Vanadium in Arunachal Pradesh:
- Concentrations of vanadium have been found in the palaeo-proterozoic (era) carbonaceous phyllite rocks in the Depo and Tamang areas of Papum Pare district in Arunachal Pradesh.
- Phyllite is a fine-grained metamorphic rock formed by the recrystallization of fine-grained, parent sedimentary rocks, such as mudstones or shales.
- Sedimentary rocks containing significant enrichment in organic matter over average sediments are called carbonaceous sedimentary rocks.
- There are other potential sites in various districts in Arunachal Pradesh.
- This is the first report of a primary deposit of vanadium in India.
- Concentrations of vanadium have been found in the palaeo-proterozoic (era) carbonaceous phyllite rocks in the Depo and Tamang areas of Papum Pare district in Arunachal Pradesh.
- Current Scenario:
- India is a significant consumer of vanadium, but is not a primary producer of the strategic metal.
- According to data provided by the GSI, India consumed 4% of total global production of Vanadium in 2017.
- It is recovered as a by-product from the slag of processed vanadiferous magnetite (iron) ores.
- Slag is the glass-like by-product left over after a desired metal has been separated (i.e., smelted) from its raw ore.
- India is a significant consumer of vanadium, but is not a primary producer of the strategic metal.
- Global Reserves:
- The largest deposits of Vanadium are in China, followed by Russia and South Africa respectively.