Vanadium is the 22nd most common element in the Earth's crust. Metallic vanadium is rare in nature. However, vanadium compounds occur naturally in about 65 different minerals. Much of the world's vanadium production comes from vanadium-bearing magnetite found in ultramafic gabbro rocks. Vanadium is mined mostly in South Africa, north-western China, and eastern Russia. In 2013 these three countries mined more than 97% of the 79,000 tonnes of produced vanadium.