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Vanadium is a hard, silvery-grey, malleable transition metal.
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It is a high-value metal used in strengthening steel and titanium.
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The elemental metal is rarely found in nature.
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It is recovered as a by-product from the slag collected from the processing of vanadiferous magnetite ores (iron ore).
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According to data provided by the GSI, India consumed 4% of about 84,000 tonnes of vanadium produced across the globe in 2017.
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The largest deposits of vanadium of the world are in China, followed by Russia and South Africa.
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China, which produces 57% of the world’s vanadium, consumed 44% of the metal in 2017.
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India is a significant consumer of vanadium but is not a primary producer of the strategic metal.
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Why in news? Vanadium deposits found in Arunachal Pradesh.