Japan said on July 24 that it plans to conduct large-scale mining tests in February for rare earth minerals from the seabed near a remote island in the Pacific Ocean, after a mission successfully collected samples from a depth of 6km under the waves, AFP reported.
Japan and the United States, along with many other countries, are seeking to reduce dependence on China for rare earths, precious minerals used in a series of high-tech products, from missiles to wind turbines.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said that rare earth samples collected earlier this year by a deep-sea drilling vessel from a depth of about 6km near Minamitorishima Island contained traces of yttrium.
She said on social network X that yttrium "is scarce globally and is used in coating agents for semiconductor manufacturing equipment, catalysts for filtering toxic nitrogen oxides in emissions, as well as in the semiconductor and automotive industries, making it an important rare earth for our country".
Based on this achievement, we plan to conduct a large-scale mining test in February next year," she said.
Ms. Takaichi added that Japan will "make efforts to strengthen the resilience of the supply chain, with the comprehensive participation of both the government and private sectors, in order not to be too dependent on some specific countries".
The Japan Maritime Science and Technology Agency (JAMSTEC) also said that gadolinium and dysprosium, two other rare earth elements, were also found in 50 tons of recovered seabed material.
In March, Ms. Takaichi said she would discuss cooperation with the US in exploitation around this coral island, about 2,000km from Tokyo and also known as Minamitorishima.
Previous studies have shown that the surrounding seabed area can contain millions of tons of rare earths, which can ensure the supply of some minerals for hundreds of years. Environmental activists warn that deep-sea exploitation threatens marine ecosystems.
