Why is it difficult to prepare very pure vanadium metal?

Preparing very pure vanadium metal is challenging primarily because the metal is highly reactive at elevated temperatures. Specifically, it readily reacts with oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon, which can easily introduce impurities during the refining process.1

Because of this reactivity, achieving high purity requires specialized techniques. While the metal can be produced through metallothermic reduction of vanadium pentoxide using calcium or aluminum, the resulting product often requires further purification, such as electron-beam melting, to reach the desired level of purity.2