Japan testing seabed extraction of minerals
Japan has begun a rare-earth mining test in the Pacific this month.
Working at a depth of 6,000m around Minamitori Island, which is located about 2,000 kilometres southeast of Tokyo.
In 2018, a Japanese research team identified an estimated 16Mt of rare-earth elements in the area around Minamitori Island
The country is eyeing joint deep-sea rare-earth development with the US, to reduce reliance on Chinese supply.
Drilling vessel Chikyu left port this week holding equipment and personnel to retrieve sediments and monitor the environmental impact, planning to return mid-February. Full-scale testing is planned for next year with the intention of gathering 350t sediments per day.
Japan’s Shoichi Ishii, Programme Director at the Cabinet Office's Secretariat of Science, Technology and Innovation Policy, is leading the project and says an advantage of the planned deep-sea rare-earth development is the absence of radioactive substances in the area's sediments, in contrast to terrestrial rar- earth mining that involves the separation and removal of thorium and uranium.
This month, China banned exports of items that have both civilian and military uses to Japan, thereby excluding many rare-earth elements.
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