Vanadium is a crucial element shaping modern industries, yet it remains underappreciated despite its vast potential. Found in over 65 minerals, this metal is essential for strengthening steel, powering batteries, and advancing aerospace technologies. With global resources estimated at 63 million tons, major reserves exist in China, Russia, South Africa, and Australia, while additional deposits are spread across North America, Canada, Brazil, Finland, and Madagascar.
Vanadium primarily occurs in phosphate rock, titaniferous magnetite, and uraniferous sandstone and siltstone, typically comprising less than 2% of the host rock. It is also present in bauxite, coal, crude oil, oil shale, and tar sands. Currently, titaniferous magnetite accounts for approximately 85% of global vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) production, with iron ore deposits containing between 1.0% and 1.5% V2O5.
Mining and extraction are concentrated in South Africa and China, where titaniferous magnetite is processed for vanadium recovery. China, Russia, and South Africa also incorporate vanadium extraction into steelmaking, where a duplex BOF process yields a vanadium-rich slag, which is further processed into V2O5 using hydrometallurgical techniques. In addition to mining, vanadium is recoverable from crude oil residues, coal ash, and industrial slags generated in power plants and refineries across regions like the Caribbean, Russia, China, and the USA.
While primary titaniferous magnetite mining contributes approximately 26% of the global vanadium supply, co-product steelmaking slag from magnetite processing represents about 59%, with secondary sources providing the remaining 15%. Other sources include roscoelite, carnotite, and vanadium-bearing iron sands utilized in steel production, particularly in India, the western USA, and New Zealand.
Future sources of vanadium are emerging, with significant untapped magnetite deposits in Brazil, Chile, Canada, Australia, Madagascar, and Malaysia. Additional vanadium-rich shale oil and tar sands are located in North America and Queensland, Australia. Uranium mining in North America and Australia is also expected to contribute vanadium as a byproduct.
The extraction of vanadium from titaniferous magnetite varies by region. In Russia and China, vanadium is recovered during steel production in blast furnaces, whereas South Africa employs a unique process involving pre-reduction of magnetite with powdered coal, followed by smelting in a submerged arc furnace. The resulting vanadium-rich slag is treated with oxygen to separate the metal. In China, this occurs through spray refining, while in South Africa, a shaking ladle is used, and in Russia, a specialised oxygen steel converter is employed.
Vanadium content in slag varies, with South African slag containing up to 25% V2O5, while Chinese and Russian slags range between 14% and 22%. The vanadium is extracted through a roast-leach process, where slags are roasted with sodium carbonate, chloride, or sulphate, producing sodium vanadates. These are then leached into an aqueous phase, precipitated as ammonium vanadates, and converted into vanadium oxides by controlled heating. Fused flake V2O5 is produced by melting and casting the oxide onto a chilling wheel, while high-purity vanadium powders are obtained through ion exchange or solvent extraction.
Vanadium oxides are the foundation for ferrovanadium and vanadium-aluminium alloys used in steel and titanium production. Ammonium vanadates and high-purity vanadium oxides further support the growing vanadium chemical industry.
Beyond mining, vanadium is extracted as a byproduct from uranium ores such as carnotite in Colorado. Through solvent extraction and liquid-liquid ion exchange, uranium is separated from vanadium, which is subsequently oxidised and precipitated as vanadium polyvanadate. Meanwhile, oil refining processes such as Venezuela’s Flexicoke method also recover vanadium from heavy crude residues.
Vanadium-bearing fuels leave residues in power plants, forming fly ash and boiler slags that are reprocessed for vanadium recovery. These ashes and slags are either refined into V2O5 or directly reduced in electric furnaces to produce ferrovanadium alloys containing 40% vanadium. Additionally, spent nickel-molybdenum and cobalt-molybdenum catalysts from refining processes undergo pyrometallurgical treatment, allowing vanadium and other metals to be separated and converted into usable oxides.
Vanadium’s role in steel production is vital, with ferrovanadium alloys available in 40%, 60%, and 80% grades. The higher-grade alloys are produced via aluminothermic reduction of vanadium oxides, while the 40% grade comes from silicon reduction of slag. Titanium industries also rely on aluminium-vanadium master alloys, reinforcing vanadium’s strategic importance in advanced manufacturing.
As industries increasingly prioritise durability and efficiency, vanadium’s critical role in high-strength materials and energy storage continues to expand. Its presence in emerging technologies, such as vanadium redox flow batteries, highlights its potential to revolutionise energy storage solutions.
Ferro-Alloy Resources Ltd (LON:FAR) is developing the giant Balasausqandiq vanadium deposit in Kyzylordinskaya oblast of southern Kazakhstan. The ore at this deposit is unlike that of nearly all other primary vanadium deposits and is capable of being treated by a much lower cost process.
