VANADIUM (Syllabus: GS Paper 1– Geography)

News-CRUX-10     21st September 2023        
QEP Pocket Notes

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.
QEP Pocket Notes