Prospector Trails
Minerals/Steel and alloy metals
Vanadium strengthens steel (rebar and high-strength steel) and is the active material in vanadium redox flow batteries for long-duration grid storage.
01 · Where it's mined
Mine output was about 110 kt in 2025: China 82 kt (about 75%), Russia 21 kt, then Brazil and South Africa. Much Chinese and Russian output comes from steel slag. Reserves are about 21 Mt, largest in Australia.
Mine production, V content, 2025. Columns on the globe show each country's share.
02 · A century of output
03 · Where it goes
Niobium, tantalum and vanadium ores and concentrates (basket), 2024, by value
Arcs run from exporter to importer; thicker means more value. CEPII BACI reconciled trade data.
04 · What it's used for
Steel takes about 90%; flow batteries are the main growth hope.
05 · Who calls it critical
Critical for the EU, US, UK, Canada, Australia, India and Korea.
06 · Mines to know
Spikes mark mines with output in open data; height follows reported output. Where a public source says where a mine's product goes, an arc runs to that plant.
Every vanadium mine and project, by countryThe detail
Mine output was about 110 kt in 2025: China 82 kt (about 75%), Russia 21 kt, then Brazil and South Africa. Much Chinese and Russian output comes from steel slag. Reserves are about 21 Mt, largest in Australia.
Steel takes about 90%; flow batteries are the main growth hope.
Critical for the EU, US, UK, Canada, Australia, India and Korea.
Vanadium production in Utah from the mining of uraniferous sandstones on the Colorado Plateau ceased in early 2020 and was not restarted in 2025. Secondary vanadium production continued in Arkansas, Delaware, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas, where processed waste materials (petroleum residues, spent catalysts, and utility ash) were used to produce ferrovanadium, vanadium-bearing chemicals or specialty alloys, and vanadium pentoxide. Estimated U.S. apparent consumption of vanadium in 2025 increased by 2% from that in 2024. Metallurgical use, primarily as an alloying agent for iron and steel, accounted for more than 90% of domestic reported vanadium consumption in 2025. Of the other uses for vanadium, the major nonmetallurgical use was in catalysts to produce maleic anhydride and sulfuric acid.
The estimated average Chinese vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) price (98% V2O5 content) in 2025 was $5.02 per pound compared with $5.44 in 2024. The estimated United States ferrovanadium price (78% to 82% vanadium content) was $14.14 per pound in 2025 compared with $13.05 in 2024. Like most ferroalloys, vanadium is largely dependent on the market characteristics of the steel industry, particularly the Chinese steel sector, which plays a central role in global steel production. In 2025, China continued to be the world’s top vanadium producer, with most of its production originating as a coproduct from vanadiferous titanomagnetite ores processed during steelmaking. Executive Order 14257, effective April 5, 2025, established a 10% baseline reciprocal tariff on most imports, with higher rates for select countries. Executive Order 14323 increased tariffs from 10% to 50%, effective August 6, 2025, on many imports from Brazil, including high-purity vanadium products but not ferrovanadium. A major producer and supplier of vanadium in Brazil sought an exemption after experiencing delays and defaults on its high-purity vanadium contracts, citing the importance of its high-purity vanadium for U.S. aerospace and defense applications. Imports for the year were estimated based on data through July 2025 and may not fully reflect the effects of the tariffs. Vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs) continued to be used in large-scale energy storage systems in 2025, owing to their operational safety, long cycle life, and suitability for medium- to long-duration use. Installations increased worldwide, supported by renewable energy growth and government policies. However, high capital costs and limited availability of high-purity vanadium feedstock remained key challenges. VRFBs also faced competition from a range of alternative battery chemistries being developed for similar grid-scale storage applications.
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.
Recycling of vanadium is mainly associated with reprocessing vanadium catalysts into new catalysts. The range in vanadium content in spent catalysts varies depending on the crude oil feedstock and the uncertainty associated with the quantity of vanadium recycled from spent chemical process catalysts was significant.
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.