The Minas Ragra was a large

vanadium Vanadium is a chemical element with the symbol V and atomic number 23. It is a hard, silvery-grey, malleable transition metal. The elemental metal is rarely found in nature, but once isolated artificially, the formation of an oxide layer ( pas ...

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

in the

Pasco Region Pasco () is a department and region in central Peru. Its capital is Cerro de Pasco. Political division The region is divided into 3 provinces ( es, provincias, singular: ), which are composed of 28 districts (''distritos'', singular: ''distrito ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

. The deposit was discovered by a

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

expedition on November 20. 1905. Members of this expeditions were Donnel Foster Hewett and José J. Bravo In this deposit the mineral

patrónite Patronite is the vanadium sulfide mineral with chemical formula, formula Vanadium, Vsulfur, S4. The material is usually described as V4+(S22−)2. Structurally, it is a "linear-chain" compound with alternating bonding and nonbonding contacts be ...

was first discovered by a member of the expedition Antenor Rizo-Patron. A mine was established in very short time by the

Vanadium Corporation of America The Vanadium Corporation of America was a commercial producer of vanadium, a transition metal and a strengthening additive for steel. The company was founded in 1906 by Joseph M. Flannery and was headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The comp ...

. By 1914 75% of the world vanadium ore production was coming from the Minas Ragra in Peru, making the mine the world leading producer of vanadium. With the production of vanadium as side product of uranium mining from carnotite the mine had to close in 1955.

References

Vanadium {{Mine-stub

See also

References