RE: The Times Newspaper5 Apr 2021 11:25
Why it's critical for defence.
World Resources: World resources of vanadium exceed 63 million tons. Vanadium occurs in deposits of phosphate rock, titaniferous magnetite, and uraniferous sandstone and siltstone, in which it constitutes less than 2% of the host rock. Significant quantities are also present in bauxite and carboniferous materials, such as coal, crude oil, oil shale, and tar sands. Because vanadium is typically recovered as a byproduct or coproduct, demonstrated world resources of the element are not fully indicative of available supplies. Although domestic resources and secondary recovery are
adequate to supply a large portion of domestic needs, all of U.S. demand is currently met by foreign sources.
Substitutes: Steels containing various combinations of other alloying elements can be substituted for steels containing vanadium. Certain metals, such as manganese, molybdenum, niobium (columbium), titanium, and tungsten, are to some degree interchangeable with vanadium as alloying elements in steel. Platinum and nickel can replace vanadium compounds as catalysts in some chemical processes. Currently, no acceptable substitute for vanadium is available for use in aerospace titanium alloys.