VANADIUM (Syllabus: GS Paper 1– Geography)

Context: Vanadium, a critical raw material for many industrial applications, has been found recently in sediment samples collected from the Gulf of Khambhat in Gujarat.

Vanadium

• About: It is a critical raw material for strategic sectors such as defence and aerospace.
• It is harder than most metals and exhibits good corrosion resistance against alkalis and acids.
• Occurrence: Various minerals, coal, and petroleum, vanadium is the 22nd most abundant element in Earth’s crust. 

o It is found in over 60 different minerals, including vanadinite, carnotite, roscoelite, and patronite.

• Largest Resources of Vanadium: South Africa and Russia.
• Traces in minerals like: Vanadinite, carnotite, roscoelite, and patronite, are known to contain this element.
• Traces in India: Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha, and Maharashtra
• Used For: Making critical electronic components, vanadium redox flow batteries.

Gulf of Khambhat

• Location: South of the Gulf of Kutch
• Major East-Flowing Rivers: Narmada and Tapti 
• Earlier known as: Gulf of Cambay
• There are some coral reefs around small inlets in the western part of the Gulf.