Rare Earth elementsJapanese discovery could undermine China's rare earth dominance
A new discovery by Japanese researchers could break China’s stranglehold over rare Earth metals; Japanese geologists say they have found large deposits of rare Earth minerals on the floor of the Pacific Ocean; it is estimated that the mud of the Pacific Ocean contains 100 billion tons of these minerals
Undersea clusters of rare earths off the coast of Okinawa // Source: so-net.ne.jp
A new discovery by Japanese researchers could break China’s stranglehold over rare Earth metals.
Japanese geologists say they have found large deposits of rare Earth minerals on the floor of the Pacific Ocean. It is estimated that the mud of the Pacific Ocean contains 100 billion tons of rare Earth elements.
If geologists are able to mine for the minerals in a cost effective way, analysts believe this discovery could undermine China’s dominance. Currently, 97 percent of rare Earth metals are produced in China, but in recent years the country has imposed strict quotas and limited exports disrupting the global supply chain.
Yasuhiro Kato, an associate professor of earth science at the University of Tokyo and the leader of the team thatdiscovered the rare earth stores, said, “The deposits have a heavy concentration of rare earths. Just one square kilometer (0.4 square mile) of deposits will be able to provide one-fifth of the current global annual consumption.”
The minerals were found in sea mud in seventy-eight locations at depths of 11,500 to 20,000 feet below the ocean’s surface. The deposits are primarily located in international waters east and west of Hawaii and east of Tahiti.
The discovery has already touched off a race as companies scramble to obtain licenses to mine for these minerals deep below the Pacific Ocean. So far Nautilus, a mining company, has been the first to obtain a license to mine the ocean floor around Papua New Guinea.
The latest discovery has also caused concern among environmentalists as mining for rare Earth metals is an environmentally damaging process that results in millions of tons of toxic waste laced with corrosive acids.
“There’s not one step of the rare Earth mining process that is not disastrous for the environment. Ores are being extracted by pumping acid into the ground, and then they are processed using more acid and chemicals,” said Jamie Choi, an expert on toxics for Greenpeace China.
