Sustainable extraction of V and Ti from low-grade V-bearing titanomagnetite deposits

Vanadium (V) and titanium (Ti) are important strategic/critical raw materials (CRMs) that are widely used in many advanced products and industrial sectors due to their excellent physical and chemical properties (Zhu et al., 2023). Titanium is primarily extracted from minerals such as rutile (TiO2) and ilmenite (FeTiO3), while vanadium is commonly obtained from vanadium-bearing titanomagnetite (VTM) deposits, rich in V, Ti, Fe, as well as trace elements (Wang et al., 2025). Global titanium reserves are estimated at around 800 million tons, with high-quality rutile accounting for only 6% (USGS, 2025). As the grade of ores containing rutile currently declines, ilmenite (94%) has become the primary titanium source. On the other hand, global VTM reserves are estimated at 60 billion tons, far exceeding Ti-rich oxide deposits containing ilmenite and rutile.