World-Class Vanadium Deposits

Mining & Minerals - Evaluations / Other Metals

Date posted: 11/30/16

Although vanadium is widely distributed, by nature it is not found on its own. Instead, it occurs in roughly 65 minerals, including carnotite, roscoelite, vanadinite, mottramite and patronite, and fossil fuel deposits. Most recent data provided by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) notes that world resources of vanadium exceeds 63 million tons. In addition to the above, vanadium is also found in deposits of phosphate rock, titaniferous magnetite, uraniferous sandstone and siltstone, although it makes up less than 2% of the rock. Vanadium is also also found as a byproduct of uranium mining. The USGS further reports that because vanadium is mostly found as a byproduct or coproduct, its hard to tell how many available supplies there truly are. Brazil, China, Russia and South Africa accounted for most of the world production of vanadium in 2015, topping 79,400 tonnes. Although the vanadium market has struggled in recent years, it is expected that global demand for vanadium will more than double by 2025, according to Merchant Research & Consulting. This report summarizes the world-class vanadium deposits... While Brazil, China, Russia and South Africa are the 4 top-vanadium producing countries, it is an industry that is growing. Australia, Canada, Peru (which once hosted the first industrial-scale vanadium mine in the world), and even in Utah and Nevada, all have the potential to become powerhouse producers of the metal. With global demand for vanadium expected to leapfrog significantly over the next decade, here is a summary of some vanadium companies developing and advancing projects. VanadiumCorp has a number of projects in Quebec, with hopes of becoming the only primary producer of vanadium in North America, together with becoming the first vanadium battery electrolyte producer. In particular, the company has the Lac Dore vanadium project, encompassing a vanadium-bearing titaniferous magnetite deposit with a concentrate grade of 1.08%.