Vanadium found in Gulf of Khambat

September 21, 2023

Vanadium, a critical raw material for many industrial applications, has been found in sediment samples collected from Gulf of Khambhat, which opens into the Arabian Sea off Alang in Gujarat.
The war mineral is scarce in India.
As per Geological Survey of India (GSI), it is the first report of vanadium occurrence in the offshore sediments of India.
Rarely found in its pure form naturally, vanadium is present in over 55 different minerals, which makes its production costly.
At Gulf of Khambhat, it has been found in a mineral called titanomagnetite, which is formed when molten lava cools rapidly.
The vanadiferous titanomagnetite deposits in the Gulf of Khambhat were possibly drained from the Deccan basalts mainly through the rivers of Narmada and Tapi.
Traces of the metal have so far been found in Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha and Maharashtra.
Applications
- Vanadium is a critical raw material for strategic sectors such as defence and aerospace.
  - For instance, vanadium containing alloys of titanium and aluminium are used in jet engine components and high-speed airframes.
- The metal is also used for storing energy and in making critical electronic components.
- It is used to make alloys that are resistant to corrosion, wear and high temperatures.
- It is also used to make vanadium redox flow batteries, which are promising for large-scale energy storage.