Little Known Element Vanadium Making Headway On Energy Scene

The little known metal vanadium could be a new power source to emerge onto the energy scene. Especially when it comes to batteries for electric cars.

One company, Uranium Star Corp. (OTC:URST) believes vanadium will do just that. Uranium Star is a rapidly emerging mineral exploration company with assets in Madagascar and Northern Quebec.

Fabarice Taylor, a financial analyst with Canada’s The Globe & Mail, wrote in a recent column that vanadium, nestled between titanium and chromium on the periodic table of the elements, is a metal that could make investors a lot of money if the stars continue to align.

“Vanadium, which you've probably never heard of, even though it surrounds you, strengthens the steel in your office building, hardens the tools used to build that tower and, perhaps, will play a big role in the electrification of the automobile you may one day drive to get to work,” Taylor wrote.

Taylor says vanadium has long been used in steel and that represents the vast majority of demand for the metal. Demand for steel is on the upswing, he adds, averaging out the demand forecasts, and predicts growth at between 5 and 6 per cent starting around next year if the recovery is intact.

“If electric cars are to catch on - and I mean purely electric ones, not hybrids - the auto industry has to solve the battery problem,” Taylor notes. “Batteries have improved but are still slow to charge and provide limited driving distance compared with a tank of gas. Lithium was a big breakthrough but it also has drawbacks as used now. Some battery makers are experimenting with adding vanadium into the battery ingredient. Using vanadium, in theory, adds power among other things. It's more expensive than some alternatives but the performance appears to compensate for the added cost.”

According to Taylor, there are strong signs that vanadium is about to make its grand debut in battery technology. China's BYD Auto, which is backed by Warren Buffett, he says, is among the leading-edge battery makers looking at vanadium and is building a plant in the vanadium-producing region of China.

Taylor isn’t the only one jumping on the vanadium bandwagon. According to Sarah Wolfe, a writer with Energy Digital, a news and information source for energy executives, vanadium could change the world in a big way.

In her article Uranium Star Corp.: Unearthing A New Power Source, Wolfe writes this: “In a remote region of Madagascar, where the land is a dry savannah nearly absent of animal and plant life, lies a priceless resource that could change the global economy and benefit the environment. Discover Magazine has even called it, “the element that could change the world.”

“This element is vanadium, “ Wolfe continues. “Canada’s Uranium Star Corp. recently announced that it has found what may be the world’s largest deposit of this element on its aptly-named Green Giant Project - a continuous 11-mile mineralized trend of vanadium spanning the entire length of the 194-acre property, in a country where international mining companies are investing billions of dollars. Over the next 18 months, At the Green Gian property, Uranium Star plans to spend $10 million to conduct environmental, geotechnical, metallurgical and marketing studies, as well as complete a feasibility study.

Wolfe says that vanadium has been used for decades but is virtually unknown.  This seems to be changing.

“Classified as a strategic metal, it has a remarkable ability to make steel alloys both stronger and lighter,” Wolfe concludes. “When combined with titanium, it creates the best strength-to-weight ratio of any engineered material, making it invaluable to the aerospace, aviation, automotive, shipping and construction industries. Demand for these ultra high-strength and super-light steels is strong and growing.”