Study of Technological Properties and Processing Feasibility for Various Types of Vanadium Raw Materials in Russia

The paper examines the technological properties of diverse vanadium-containing raw materials, including titanium-magnetite concentrate, converter slag, dump sludge, neutralization sludge, slag from ferrovanadium smelting, fuel oil ash and slag, black shale, and spent catalysts. The existing chains of their formation and processing are described, considering the volume of raw materials underutilized for vanadium extraction, such as blast furnace slag, tailings, ilmenite concentrate, red mud, vanadium slag, and titanomagnetite concentrates. Most of these materials prove suitable for vanadium extraction. According to our estimates, annually produced industrial raw materials involve approximately 53.6 thousand tons of vanadium relative to V2O5. This includes 4.4 thousand tons of V2O5 suitable for extraction and 12.0 thousand tons of V2O5 potentially suitable for extraction. Additionally, about 28.5 thousand tons of vanadium relative to V2O5, found in titanium magnetite concentrates and converter slag, could be further engaged in processing. Consequently, the reserve of raw materials unused for vanadium extraction amounts to 45 thousand tons relative to V2O5. Processing these raw materials holds the potential to manufacture vanadium-containing products of a deeper degree of processing, including purified vanadium pentoxide V2O5, vanadium trioxide V2O3, and vanadium alloys, thereby reducing dependence on imported equivalents.