A Japanese research project has found that medium and heavy rare earth elements make up about 54 percent of the content in deep-sea mud samples collected off Minamitori Island.
The Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology collected about 50 tons of mud from a depth of 5,600 meters around Minamitori Island, located some 1,900 kilometers southeast of Tokyo, during January and February.
Medium and heavy rare earth elements such as yttrium, gadolinium and dysprosium accounted for approximately 54 percent of the total extracted, while light ones such as neodymium made up the remaining 46 percent. Project leader Shoichi Ishii of the Cabinet Office said at a press conference, "It is extremely valuable for us to see yttrium especially, as its value has been soaring rapidly in the global market."
Based on the results, the team plans to conduct a full-scale mining test in the same area for about a month starting in February. The government will assess the costs and benefits of industrialization by March 2028.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said the presence of high-quality rare earths in Japan's exclusive economic zone will allow Japan to reduce its excessive dependence on a specific country for critical minerals while enhancing its self-reliance. "The government will immediately proceed with further tests for industrial-scale development," he said at a press conference.