Published: November 8, 2023 |

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A new Nevada mine approved this week by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will produce vanadium, a critical mineral used in long duration batteries used in utility-grade energy storage.

When it goes into operation, the Gibellini Vanadium Mine outside of Eureka will produce nearly 10 million pounds of vanadium each year — roughly 60 percent of U.S. demand, according to a BLM news release.

The mine is expected to operate for about seven years and employ 120 people.

Vanadium batteries degrade less over time than the lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles, but they are not portable like the batteries in EVs. They use tanks of electrolytes dissolved in water and can be charged tens of thousands of times over decades. There’s no fire risk with vanadium flow batteries — VFBs — but they require cooler temperatures than lithium-ion batteries.

A more likely use of vanadium batteries is in storing electricity produced by solar farms, or in off-grid installations.

BLM says the mine will be powered entirely by clean energy and will run on solar and battery technology. The trucks used to haul the material out will also be powered by electricity and will rely on solar power.

Source: Ely Times

Nevada Vanadium Mining is a Canadian reporting issuer, holding 100 percent interest in the Gibellini Vanadium Project in Nevada.

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