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Japan finds ‘semi-infinite’ trove of rare earth elements,China no longer has monopoly
| Japanese researchers have mapped vast reserves of rare earth elements in deep-sea mud, enough to feed global demand on a “semi-infinite basis,” according to a new study.
The deposit, found within Japan’s exclusive economic zone waters, contains more than 16 million tons of the elements needed to build high-tech products ranging from mobile phones to electric vehicles, according to the study, released Tuesday in the journal Scientific Reports.
| China’s hold on these elements gave them a lot of power in the distribution of these commodities. The government declared these elements to be a protected and strategic good in 1990.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/04/11/national/japan-team-maps-semi-infinite-trove-rare-earth-elements/#.Ws3c84hubIU
| nice, I hope they start exploiting it as soon as possible
| I'm surprisingly okay with a Japanese superpower.
| haha im suchh a whitey weeb amirite haha lmfao >dabs on dem haters
| Well, whatever makes you sleep at night
| well there is 1 big problem:
how to get this ressources from the deep-sea mudd? It's not like you just build a mine there or something. Even for mechanical systems the pressure is a big chalange. Detecting the ressources is by far not even half of the work.
| Yes. It is easy to say deep sea mud. And moreover, saying rare earth minerals is not one thing, there is a lot of different elements. It is like saying 'I have metals'. Right, but which ones?
And lastly, rare earth minerals are like that: rare in planet Earth. That all of a sudden all this rarity of elements (more than one kind!) is so conveniently found clumped in one tight spot... and mind you, extremely vast amounts. Of rare things!
So keep an eye open for fake news, people.
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| Rare earth metals are used to manufacture everything from electric or hybrid vehicles, wind turbines, consumer electronics and other clean energy technologies
It is estimated the world has 99 million tonnes of rare earth reserve deposits.[6] China's reserves are estimated to be 36 million tonnes or roughly 30 percent of the world's total reserves