“Japan has begun the world’s first deep-sea mud mining test in an attempt to reduce its dependence on Chinese rare earth minerals,” reports The Doomslayer.
Mining.com explains:
Chikyu, a government-backed Japanese mining vessel set sail on Monday for waters near Minamitori Island, a remote coral atoll in the Pacific, to study seabed mud rich in rare earth elements at a depth of about four miles. If successful, the project would mark the first sustained attempt globally to lift rare-earth-bearing sludge from the ocean floor directly onto a ship.
The initiative comes as Tokyo seeks to strengthen supply security after China moved to tighten controls on critical minerals. Last week, Beijing banned exports of dual-use items, including certain minerals, to Japan’s military and began broadly restricting rare earth shipments to Japan, according to reports Beijing has neither confirmed nor denied. Chinese state media have said the government is weighing further measures.
Japan has faced similar pressure before. In 2010, China curtailed rare earth exports following a maritime incident near disputed islands in the East China Sea. Since then, Japan has reduced its dependence on China to about 60% from roughly 90% by investing in overseas projects, including trading house Sojitz’s partnership with Australia’s Lynas Rare Earths (ASX: LYC), and by promoting recycling and manufacturing processes that use fewer rare earths.
The Minamitori Island initiative is the first attempt by Japan to source rare earths domestically rather than overseas.
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