Japan would tomorrow embark on what it said is the world’s first bid to tap deep sea rare earths at a depth of 6,000m — greater than the height of Mount Fuji — to curb dependence on China.
A Japanese deep-sea scientific drilling boat called the Chikyu would set sail for the remote island of Minami Torishima in the Pacific, where surrounding waters are believed to contain a rich trove of valuable minerals.
The test cruise comes as China — by far the world’s biggest supplier of rare earths — ramps up pressure after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested in November last year that Tokyo might react militarily to an attack on Taiwan.
Photo: AFP
Rare earths — 17 metals difficult to extract from the Earth’s crust — are used in everything from electric vehicles to hard drives, wind turbines and missiles.
The mission by the Chikyu is “a first step toward our country’s industrialization of domestic rare earths,” the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) said.
The agency touted the test as the world’s first at such depths.
The area around Minami Torishima, which is in Japan’s economic waters, is estimated to contain more than 16 million tonnes of rare earths, the third-largest reserve globally.
These rich deposits contain an estimated 730 years’ worth of dysprosium, used in high-strength magnets in phones and electric cars, and 780 years’ worth of yttrium, used in lasers, the Nikkei said.
“If Japan could successfully extract rare earths around Minami Torishima constantly, it will secure domestic supply chain for key industries,” International Institute for Strategic Studies research associate Takahiro Kamisuna said. “Likewise, it will be a key strategic asset for Takaichi’s government to significantly reduce the supply chain dependence on China.”
Beijing has long used its dominance in rare earths for geopolitical leverage.
China accounts for almost two-thirds of rare earth mining production and 92 percent of global refined output, the International Energy Agency said.
Media reports this week said Beijing was delaying Japanese imports as well as rare-earth exports to Tokyo, as their spat escalates.
China on Tuesday blocked exports to Japan of “dual-use” items with potential military uses, fueling worries in Japan that Beijing could choke supplies of rare earths, some of which are included in China’s list of dual-use goods.
During the test mission, the Chikyu would send a pipe beneath the water to ensure a “mining machine” attached to its tip can reach the seabed and retrieve the rare earth-rich muds, JAMSTEC said.
The cruise is scheduled to last until Feb. 14.
Auschwitz survivor Eva Schloss, the stepsister of teenage diarist Anne Frank and a tireless educator about the horrors of the Holocaust, has died. She was 96. The Anne Frank Trust UK, of which Schloss was honorary president, said she died on Saturday in London, where she lived. Britain’s King Charles III said he was “privileged and proud” to have known Schloss, who cofounded the charitable trust to help young people challenge prejudice. “The horrors that she endured as a young woman are impossible to comprehend and yet she devoted the rest of her life to overcoming hatred and prejudice, promoting kindness, courage, understanding
US President Donald Trump on Friday said Washington was “locked and loaded” to respond if Iran killed protesters, prompting Tehran to warn that intervention would destabilize the region. Protesters and security forces on Thursday clashed in several Iranian cities, with six people reported killed, the first deaths since the unrest escalated. Shopkeepers in Tehran on Sunday last week went on strike over high prices and economic stagnation, actions that have since spread into a protest movement that has swept into other parts of the country. If Iran “violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to
‘DISRESPECTFUL’: Katie Miller, the wife of Trump’s most influential adviser, drew ire by posting an image of Greenland in the colors of the US flag, captioning it ‘SOON’ US President Donald Trump on Sunday doubled down on his claim that Greenland should become part of the US, despite calls by the Danish prime minister to stop “threatening” the territory. Washington’s military intervention in Venezuela has reignited fears for Greenland, which Trump has repeatedly said he wants to annex, given its strategic location in the arctic. While aboard Air Force One en route to Washington, Trump reiterated the goal. “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it,” he said in response to a reporter’s question. “We’ll worry about Greenland in
PERILOUS JOURNEY: Over just a matter of days last month, about 1,600 Afghans who were at risk of perishing due to the cold weather were rescued in the mountains Habibullah set off from his home in western Afghanistan determined to find work in Iran, only for the 15-year-old to freeze to death while walking across the mountainous frontier. “He was forced to go, to bring food for the family,” his mother, Mah Jan, said at her mud home in Ghunjan village. “We have no food to eat, we have no clothes to wear. The house in which I live has no electricity, no water. I have no proper window, nothing to burn for heating,” she added, clutching a photograph of her son. Habibullah was one of at least 18 migrants who died
RSS