VANADIUM AND ITS MAIN INDUSTRY: A REVIEW AND THE RESOURCE POTENTIAL IN CANADA

Volume 8, Issue 1, February 2024     |     PP. 127-158      |     PDF (2248 K)    |     Pub. Date: July 15, 2019
DOI:    238 Downloads     4066 Views  

Author(s)

Mehmet F. Taner, Consulting geologist and mineralogist, Ottawa, Canada
Maria Skyllas-Kazacos, Professor Emeritus, School of Chemical Engineering. The University of New South Wales, UNSW Sydney, New South Wales, 2052, Australia
Patrick Houle, géologue régional Nord-du-Québec. Ministère des Richesses Naturelle du Québec, Canada

Abstract
Vanadium is a strategic metal which is widely utilized in a variety of applications; (i) 63% in the production of high-quality metal alloys such as high-strength steel engineered for pipeline and commercial rebar applications (ii) 24% in the titanium-aluminum-vanadium alloys produced for the aerospace industry; and (iii) 13% in the chemical industry for the production of catalysts, electronics and batteries (e.g., vanadium redox batteries). New uses and applications are continually being discovered for this metal. Vanadium is relatively abundant in the Earth’s crust, but few primary economic deposits are known in the world. In 2018, China produced 54% of the world’s vanadium, while the remainder of the global supply being derived from Russia (20%), South Africa (16%) and Brazil (10 %). Ninety-five percent of vanadium deposits worldwide are magmatic type deposits with the remaining 5% being sediment hosted deposits. The majority of the vanadium deposits in Canada are associated with layered mafic intrusions. Although there is substantial potential for vanadium in Canada, there currently exists no vanadium production or associated industry. Vanadium mineralization in Canada occurs in oxide-rich horizons within the layered gabbro zones of the upper parts of the Bell River Complex, Matagami, Quebec and the Doré Lake Complex, Chibougamau, Québec. There is also substantial vanadium potential in the Athabascan oil sands, Alberta, as well as Newfoundland and Labrador. Canada has the potential to become a large-scale vanadium producer especially with the wide variety of industrial applications situated in close proximity and elsewhere throughout North America. Therefore, it is recommended that Canada should seek to attract and develop robust new industries related to vanadium applications to make better use of its substantial vanadium potential.

Keywords
vanadium, titaniferous magnetite, ilmenite, layered intrusions, beneficiation of V-Ti-Fe ores, Matagami, Chibougamau, Abitibi, Quebec, Canada, vanadium redox flow battery, vanadium electrolytes, energy storage

Cite this paper
Mehmet F. Taner, Maria Skyllas-Kazacos, Patrick Houle, VANADIUM AND ITS MAIN INDUSTRY: A REVIEW AND THE RESOURCE POTENTIAL IN CANADA , SCIREA Journal of Environment. Volume 8, Issue 1, February 2024 | PP. 127-158.

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