Noront Resources

U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries, January 2007

VANADIUM

(Data in metric tons of vanadium content unless otherwise noted)

Domestic Production and Use: Eight U.S. firms that make up the domestic vanadium industry produced
ferrovanadium, vanadium pentoxide, vanadium metal, and vanadium-bearing chemicals or specialty alloys by
processing materials such as petroleum residues, spent catalysts, utility ash, and vanadium-bearing pig iron slag.
Metallurgical use, primarily as an alloying agent for iron and steel, accounted for about 90% of the domestic vanadium
consumption in 2006. Of the other uses for vanadium, the major nonmetallurgical use was in catalysts for the
production of maleic anhydride and sulfuric acid.

Salient Statistics—United States: 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006e

Production, mine, mill1 — — — — —

Imports for consumption:

Ash, ore, residues, slag 1,870 3,060 2,350 1,690 700

Vanadium pentoxide, anhydride 406 474 1,040 1,370 2,370

Oxides and hydroxides, other 66 74 120 186 231

Aluminum-vanadium master alloys (gross weight) 98 232 19 1 153

Ferrovanadium 2,520 1,360 3,020 11,900 2,220
Exports:

Vanadium pentoxide, anhydride 91 185 240 254 334

Oxides and hydroxides, other 203 284 584 899 998

Aluminum-vanadium master alloys (gross weight) 529 677 887 1,850 2,700

Ferrovanadium 142 397 285 504 437
Consumption, reported 3,080 3,240 4,050 3,910 3,810
Price, average, dollars per pound V2O5 1.34 2.21 5.99 16.28 8.08
Stocks, consumer, yearend 221 250 336 371 340
Employment, mine and mill, number1 — — — — —
Net import reliance2 as a percentage of

apparent consumption 100 100 100 100 100

Recycling: Some tool steel scrap was recycled primarily for its vanadium content, and vanadium was recycled from
spent chemical process catalysts, but these two sources together accounted for only a very small percentage of total
vanadium used. The vanadium content of other recycled steels was lost to slag during processing and was not
recovered.

Import Sources (2002-05): Ferrovanadium: Czech Republic, 74%; Swaziland, 9%; Canada, 8%; Austria, 4%; and
other, 5%. Vanadium pentoxide: South Africa, 82%; China, 9%; Mexico, 5%; and other, 4%.

Tariff: Ash, residues, slag, and waste and scrap enter duty-free.

Item Number Normal Trade Relations
12-31-06


Vanadium pentoxide anhydride 2825.30.0010 6.6% ad val.
Vanadium oxides and hydroxides, other 2825.30.0050 6.6% ad val.
Vanadates 2841.90.1000 6.1% ad val.
Ferrovanadium 7202.92.0000 4.2% ad val.
Aluminum-vanadium master alloys 7601.20.9030 Free.

Depletion Allowance: 22% (Domestic), 14% (Foreign).

Government Stockpile: None.

Prepared by Michael J. Magyar [(703) 648-4964, mmagyar@usgs.gov, fax: (703) 648-7757]


VANADIUM


Events, Trends, and Issues: Preliminary data indicate that U.S. vanadium consumption in 2006 decreased about
2% from that of the previous year. Among the major uses for vanadium, production of carbon, full-alloy, and high-
strength low-alloy steels accounted for 25%, 27%, and 27% of domestic consumption, respectively. Steel production
in 2006 was expected to be 1% to 2% higher than that of 2005.

Both ferrovanadium and vanadium pentoxide prices decreased significantly in 2006 from 2005 levels. Prices that had
spiked in the second quarter of 2005 dropped by about 50% by the end of the year, and the trend continued into 2006
with prices stabilizing at about one-half of their 2005 levels for ferrovanadium and vanadium pentoxide, respectively.
Stable demand in the steel and aerospace industries and increased production of vanadium in Russia and China kept
world supply and demand in balance in 2006.

World Mine Production, Reserves, and Reserve Base:

Mine production
2005 2006e
Reserves3 Reserve base3
United States — — 45,000 4,000,000
China 17,000 17,500 5,000,000 14,000,000
Russia 15,100 18,800 5,000,000 7,000,000
South Africa 25,000 25,000 3,000,000 12,000,000
Other countries 1,100 1,100 NA 1,000,000
World total (rounded) 58,200 62,400 13,000,000 38,000,000

World Resources: World resources of vanadium exceed 63 million tons. Vanadium occurs in deposits of titaniferous
magnetite, phosphate rock, and uraniferous sandstone and siltstone, in which it constitutes less than 2% of the host
rock. Significant amounts are also present in bauxite and carboniferous materials, such as crude oil, coal, oil shale,
and tar sands. Because vanadium is usually recovered as a byproduct or coproduct, demonstrated world resources of
the element are not fully indicative of available supplies. While domestic resources and secondary recovery are
adequate to supply a large portion of domestic needs, a substantial part of U.S. demand is currently met by foreign
material because it is currently uneconomic to mine vanadium in the United States.

Substitutes: Steels containing various combinations of other alloying elements can be substituted for steels
containing vanadium. Metals, such as columbium (niobium), manganese, molybdenum, 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. There is currently no acceptable substitute for vanadium in
aerospace titanium alloys.

eEstimated. NA Not available. — Zero.

1Domestic vanadium mine production stopped in 1999.

2Defined as imports – exports + adjustments for Government and industry stock changes.

3See Appendix C for definitions.

U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries, January 2007