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Formula: V
Element, iron group. Until recently vanadium was thought not to occur in its native state in
the Earth's crust.
Specific gravity: 6.033 calculated
Colour: Steel grey
Solubility: Resistant to attack by alkalis, hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid and salt water (ChC)
Abundance: In the Earth’s crust, 120 parts per million by mass, 50 parts per million by moles; in the Solar System, 400 parts per billion
by mass, 9 parts per billion by moles
(ChC)
Environments
When extracted from its ore vanadium is a bright white, soft, ductile metal with good structural strength. When present in compounds,
it exists mostly as V5+
(ChC).
Localities
Vanadium is a new mineral (2016) found in sublimates of high-temperature fumaroles of the Colima volcano, Mexico. The
mineral precipitates over a narrow temperature range of 550–680oC, and occurs in association with
colimaite and shcherbinaite. Native
vanadium was found in natural incrustations and on the inner wall of a silica tube inserted into vents and subsequently in the
adjacent rock of the “Z3 fumarole.” It forms smooth, irregular to flattened crystals, 5–20 μm in diameter with smaller irregular crystals
observed in silica tubes
(AM 101.2783).
Alteration
Vanadium oxidises in air at around 660oC to the pentoxide V2O5
(shcherbinaite when naturally occurring)
(ChC).
Vanadium-bearing minerals include:
Oxides
montroseite
navajoite
shcherbinaite
Sulphates
minasragrite
orthominasragrite
Vanadates
brackebuschite
clinobisvanite
carnotite
descloizite
dreyerite
fianelite
metatyuyamunite
mottramite
namibite
palenzonaite
pucherite
pyrobelonite
schumacherite
tangeite
turanite
tyuyamunite
vanadinite
vesignieite
volborthite
Vanadium Oxysalts
hewettite
huemulite
hummerite
metahewettite
pintadoite
rauvite
rossite
uvanite
vanoxite
Phyllosilicates
cavansite
roscoelite
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