Syllabus section: Geography

Why in News?

The Geological Survey of India has found promising concentrations of Vanadium in the Tamang and Depo areas of Arunachal Pradesh.

What is Vanadium?

• Vanadium is a by-product obtained from the processing of Vanadiferous magnetite ores.

• In its pure form, Vanadium is soft, ductile and grey in colour.

• Vanadium alloys are durable in extreme environments.

• They are corrosion resistant.

• They improve tensile strength of steel and reinforce steel bars used for tunnels, buildings and bridges.

• The Vanadium Pentoxide is used as a catalyst in the production of Sulphuric acid.

• 85% of the Vanadium produced in the world are used as steel additive.

• Vanadium steel is used in gears, bicycle frames, axles and other critical components.

• Vanadium Dioxide is used in production of glass coatings that blocks infrared radiation.

Vanadium in Arunachal pradesh

• Vanadium mineralisation in Arunachal Pradesh is geologically similar to the “stone coal” vanadium deposits of China hosted in carbonaceous shale. This high vanadium content is associated with graphite with fixed carbon content of up to 16%.

• Geologists discovered two bands of about 7-metre thick carbonaceous phyllite for a length of more than 6 km in the Depo area.

• The expected grade of vanadium mineralisation in Arunachal Pradesh is comparable to the important vanadium deposits of the world.

• The largest deposits are in China, followed by Russia and South Africa,

 

Source: The Hindu