According to the Geology and Minerals Prospecting and Exploration Bureau of the northeastern Chinese province of Hebei, a deposit of 1 billion mt of vanadium titanomagnetite with metal content reaching 30 percent has been found near the city of Chengdu, which is the largest vanadium-titanium base in northern China.
As the main raw material in the production of vanadium-titanium (V-Ti) products, vanadium titanomagnetite ore is a valuable resource. Vanadium can be used in steelmaking process to raise strength, tenacity, ductibility and heat tolerance. At present, China ranks third in the world as regards vanadium titanomagnetite ore reserves, while Chengdu ranks first in northern China with a total of 4.5 billion mt of vanadium titanomagetite reserves. Overall in China, Chengdu comes after the Panzhihua region in Sichuan Province which has reserves amounting to 10 billion mt.
Chengde Xinxin Vanadium and Titanium Co., Ltd, established in 2002, has taken advantage of the abundant vanadium-titanium resources in Chengde city, capturing 35 percent of the domestic market and eight percent overseas helped by the development of its vanadium pentoxide and vanadium sesquioxide series of products.
By the end of China's Eleventh Five-Year Program (2006-2011), Chengde city is expected to have a total annual production capacity of 160,000 mt of vanadium slag, 250,000 mt of titanium concentrate powder and 12 million mt of V-Ti alloy steels.