JAPAN: Scientist says they found vast deposits of rare earth minerals crucial in making high-tech electronics products buried in the Pacific Ocean

Record ID: 465499

  • Title: JAPAN: Scientist says they found vast deposits of rare earth minerals crucial in making high-tech electronics products buried in the Pacific Ocean
  • Date: 7th July 2011
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (JULY 6, 2011) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT BUILDING RESEARCHER KOICHIRO FUJINAGA WORKING IN LABORATORY RARE EARTH DEPOSITS BEING SCOOPED OUT OF BOTTLE FUJINAGA POURING DEPOSITS ONTO GLASS DISH MORE OF RARE EARTH DEPOSITS BEING POURED ONTO GLASS DISH (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) PROJECT RESEARCHER AT UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO KOICHIRO FUJINAGA, SAYING: "One-fifth of the world's demand of rare earth can be supplied by excavating one square kilometre of this deposit." FUJINAGA HOLDING SMALL BOTTLE CONTAINING RARE EARTH DEPOSITS FUJINAGA SHOWING LOCATIONS OF RARE EARTH DEPOSITS ON MAP MAP OF PACIFIC OCEAN SHOWING LOCATION OF RARE EARTH DEPOSITS (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) PROJECT RESEARCHER AT UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO KOICHIRO FUJINAGA, SAYING: "The deposits were created when the metals underwater absorbed rare earth components in the sea water; so the rare earth can be extracted very easily using weak acid." RARE EARTH DEPOSITS BEING PUT UNDER MICROSCOPE VARIOUS OF FUJINAGA LOOKING INTO MICROSCOPE POWDER INCLUDING RARE EARTH COMPONENTS AKITA UNIVERSITY VISITING PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS YOSHITAKA HOSOI WALKING (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) AKITA UNIVERSITY VISITING PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS YOSHITAKA HOSOI, SAYING: "It's not that the rare earth resources on land are all in China. It's more like, other countries stopped mining their minerals because they cannot compete with China as it mines the mineral utilizing its cheap labour and without conserving the environment. Thus, it should be faster to re-exploit the dormant mines rather than collecting it from the ocean floor." HOSOI TALKING (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) AKITA UNIVERSITY VISITING PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS YOSHITAKA HOSOI, SAYING: "The most urgent problem should be to examine where exactly the economically feasible resources exist and to develop techniques and devices that can extract the minerals from the ocean floor."
  • Embargoed: 22nd July 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan, Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Nature / Environment,Science
  • Reuters ID: LVA3EITKOFS98Y4EIFYA4UULOVQL
  • Story Text: Japanese scientists say they have found vast deposits of rare earth minerals crucial in making high-tech electronics products, buried in the Pacific Ocean, that can be readily extracted.
    The discovery led by Yasuhiro Kato and Koichiro Fujinaga of the University of Tokyo and including researchers from the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, was first published online in the British journal Nature Geoscience on Monday (July 4).
    They found the minerals in sea mud extracted from depths of 3,500 to 6,000 metres (11,500-20,000 ft) below the ocean surface at 78 locations.
    "One-fifth of the world demand of rare earth can be supplied by excavating one square kilometre of this deposit," Fujinaga said on Wednesday (July 6).
    The deposits contained 80 to 100 billion tonnes of rare earths, compared to global reserves currently confirmed by the U.S. Geological Survey of just 110 million tonnes found mainly in China, Russia and other former Soviet countries, and the United States.
    The researchers say the deposits are in international waters in an area stretching east and west of Hawaii, as well as east of Tahiti in French Polynesia.
    A chronic shortage of rare earths, vital for making a range of high-technology electronics, magnets and batteries, has encouraged mining projects in recent years.
    China, which accounts for 97 percent of global rare earth supplies, has been tightening trade in the strategic metals, sparking an explosion in prices.
    Japan, which accounts for a third of global demand, has been stung badly, and has been looking to diversify its supply sources, particularly of heavy rare earths.
    The researchers say said the sea mud was especially rich in heavier rare earths such as gadolinium, lutetium, terbium and dysprosium.
    Extracting the deposits requires pumping up material from the ocean floor and using a simple method called acid leaching.
    "The deposits were created as the metals in underwater volcanic plumes were absorbed by the sea water; so the rare earth can be extracted very easily using a weak acid," Fujinaga said.
    However other experts argue that digging old mines on land would still be easier and cheaper to do than hauling up the rare earth sludge from the bottom of the sea.
    "It's not that the on-land rare earth resources are all in China. It's more like, other countries stopped mining their minerals because they cannot compete with China as it mines the mineral utilizing its cheap labor and without preserving the environment. Thus, it should be faster to re-exploit the dormant mines rather than collecting it from ocean floor," said Akita University professor Yoshitaka Hosoi.
    Extracting rare earths from the sea will also require new technology.
    "The most urgent problem should be to examine where exactly the economically feasible resource exist and to develop techniques and devices that can pull the mineral from the ocean floor," Hosoi said.
    Last week, the World Trade Organisation ruled that China broke international law by curbing exports of the coveted raw materials. China is expected to appeal the ruling, but the move coincides with growing anxiety amongst markets and policymakers that resource-rich countries are reining in exports of commodities as supplies fall behind global demand.
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