Rare Earths Collected off Japan Island Contain Key Elements

Tokyo, July 24 (Jiji Press)–The Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology said Friday that about 54 pct of the rare earths collected off Minamitorishima, Japan’s easternmost island, were medium and heavy rare earths, which are essential for high-tech products. The agency, also known as JAMSTEC, and other organizations plan to conduct full-scale mining tests from February next year. Based on the results, they will compile a report by March 2028 on the feasibility of producing rare earths domestically. Medium and heavy rare earths are a group of elements with relatively high atomic weights. They are crucial for magnets used in electric vehicle motors and other high-tech products. Currently, Japan relies heavily on China for these elements. In January and February this year, JAMSTEC’s Chikyu deep-sea drilling vessel conducted test drilling and collected about 50 tons of mud from the seabed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone around Minamitorishima through a 5,600-meter-long pipe. The mud was found to contain rare earths, about 54 pct of which were medium and heavy rare earths. The remaining about 46 pct were light rare earths. Of the medium and heavy rare earths, yttrium, which is essential for producing light-emitting diodes and semiconductors, accounted for 29.9 pct, while 4.9 pct were gadolinium, which is used to control nuclear reactors, and 4.6 pct were dysprosium, which is used in EV motors. The light rare earths included neodymium, at 18.4 pct, which is used for powerful permanent magnets. Although rare earth ores often contain radioactive substances, no significant amounts of harmful or radioactive materials were detected in the recovered mud. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]