TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Method: In the method (M1), reducing the vanadium pentoxide: comprises contacting the vanadium pentoxide contained in vanadium-bearing ore and/or vanadium-bearing iron slag, with vanadium tetrachloride; and further comprises contacting the vanadium pentoxide and the vanadium tetrachloride with a solvent, and adding a borohydride compound and/or a borate compound and hydrogen, after contacting the vanadium pentoxide with vanadium tetrachloride, where a solution of the vanadium-bearing ore and/or vanadium-bearing iron slag, in the solvent, and the vanadium tetrachloride, are contacted at a volume ratio of 2:1-20:1. In the method (M1), reducing the vanadium(III) oxide to vanadium(II) oxide: comprises contacting the vanadium(III) oxide with a borohydride compound and/or a borate compound and hydrogen; further comprises contacting the vanadium(III) oxide with hydrochloric acid and/or chlorine; and comprises contacting the vanadium (III) oxide with sodium metaborate, hydrochloric acid, chlorine or hydrogen. In the method (M1), forming the vanadium nanoparticle: comprises contacting the vanadium (II) oxide with a borohydride compound and/or a borate compound and hydrogen; further comprises contacting the vanadium(II) oxide with hydrochloric acid and/or chlorine; contacting the vanadium(II) oxide with sodium metaborate, hydrochloric acid, chlorine, and hydrogen. In the method (M1), forming the vanadium boride from the vanadium nanoparticle comprises: contacting the vanadium nanoparticle with boric acid and further contacting the vanadium nanoparticle with hydrogen; and contacting the vanadium boride nanoparticle with boric acid and hydrogen. The methods (M1) and (M2) further comprise: forming vanadium boride crystals, where forming the vanadium boride crystals comprises incubating a solution of the vanadium boride at ambient temperature and pressure for 24-48 hours, and further comprises stirring the solution; and coating the vanadium boride with an iron oxide, where the method is performed in a single reaction vessel at ambient temperature and pressure. In the method (M2), reducing the vanadium pentoxide further comprises: adding the borohydride compound and/or borate compound and hydrogen, after contacting the vanadium pentoxide with the vanadium tetrachloride to form vanadium(III) oxide; contacting the vanadium pentoxide and vanadium tetrachloride with a solvent; contacting the vanadium(III) oxide with a borohydride compound and/or a borate compound and hydrogen, to form vanadium(II) oxide; contacting the vanadium(III) oxide with hydrochloric acid and/or chlorine; contacting the vanadium(III) oxide with sodium metaborate, hydrochloric acid, chlorine, and hydrogen to form vanadium(II) oxide; contacting the vanadium (II) oxide with the borohydride compound and/or borate compound and hydrogen to form the vanadium nanoparticle; contacting the vanadium (II) oxide with hydrochloric acid and/or chlorine; and contacting the vanadium(II) oxide with sodium metaborate, hydrochloric acid, chlorine, and hydrogen to form the vanadium nanoparticle. In the method (M2) forming the vanadium boride: comprises contacting the vanadium nanoparticle with boric acid; further comprises contacting the vanadium nanoparticle with hydrogen; and comprises contacting the vanadium boride nanoparticle with boric acid and hydrogen. In the method (M3), reducing the metal oxide: comprises contacting the metal oxide contained in the metal bearing ore and/or metal bearing iron slag, with a metal chloride, where the metal chloride corresponds to the metal boride being formed; adding the borohydride compound or the borate compound and/or hydrogen, after contacting the metal oxide with the metal chloride to form at least one intermediate metal oxide having a metal oxidation state lower than that of the metal oxide; contacting the metal oxide and the metal chloride with the solvent; contacting the intermediate metal oxides with the borohydride compound, or the borate compound and/or hydrogen, to form the metal nanoparticle; contacting the intermediate metal oxides with hydrochloric acid and/or chlorine; and contacting the intermediate metal oxides with sodium metaborate, hydrochloric acid, chlorine, and hydrogen to form the metal nanoparticle. In the method (M3), forming the metal boride comprises contacting the metal nanoparticle with: boric acid; hydrogen; and boric acid and hydrogen. The method (M3) further comprises: forming metal boride crystals by incubating a solution of the metal boride at ambient temperature and pressure for 24-48 hours, where the step further comprises stirring the solution; and coating the metal boride with an iron oxide, where the method is performed in a single reaction vessel at ambient temperature and pressure. Preferred Components: The vanadium-bearing ore: is titaniferous magnetite ore, oxidized patronite, vanadinite and/or canotite; and comprises less than 2 wt.% vanadium pentoxide. The vanadium-bearing iron slag comprises less than 25 wt.% vanadium pentoxide. The borohydride compound is sodium borohydride, lithium borohydride, sodium cyanoborohydride, potassium borohydride and/or lithium triethylborohydride. The borate compound is sodium metaborate, sodium borate, lithium metaborate, lithium borate and/or lithium tetraborate. The solvent is water, ethanol, isopropanol and/or methanol, preferably a mixture of water and ethanol, where water and ethanol are present in a volume ratio of water to ethanol of 1:2. The metal bearing ore is titaniferous magnetite ore, oxidized patronite, vanadinite and/or canotite. The metal oxide is an oxide of lithium, titanium, magnesium, manganese, aluminum, zinc and/or iron. EXAMPLE - 10 ml of titaniferous magnetite ore solution was mixed with 30 ml of a 2:1 (vol./vol.) ethanol and water mixture in a reaction vessel at ambient temperature and pressure. 1 ml of freshly prepared vanadium tetrachloride was added to the titaniferous magnetite ore solution and ethanol and water mixture were added. Addition of the vanadium tetrachloride results in disassociation of vanadium pentoxide from the magnetite ore. The combining of the ore with vanadium tetrachloride was followed by the addition of 25 ml of 1M sodium borohydride to the reaction vessel to produce vanadium(III) oxide. 1M Sodium metaborate and an excess of hydrogen were then added to the reaction vessel at ambient temperature and pressure to yield vanadium(II) oxide. Fresh sodium metaborate was then added in excess to yield a vanadium nanoparticle. 1M Boric acid was then added to the reaction vessel to produce vanadium boride. The reaction mixture was allowed to incubate at ambient temperature and pressure for 48 hours resulting in the formation of vanadium boride crystals. The reaction mixture was stirred continuously during the incubation as well as during the process of adding the reactants to obtain vanadium boride.