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.
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.
- 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.
Andhra Pradesh and Vanadium reserve
- 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.
- 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.
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. Apart from increasing fuel-efficiency in automotive and aviation industries due to its high strength-to-weight ratio, the metal forms the integral part of vanadium redox batteries that have the least ecological impact in energy storage.
The global demand for vanadium has been skyrocketing but there was a deficit of 17,300 metric tonnes between demand and supply in 2017. The vanadium find in Arunachal Pradesh could help boost the local and national economy.
