Japan collects 54% of heavy rare earths from deep-sea mud

According to the Mining.com website, Japan announced on the 24th that heavy rare earths accounted for about 54% of the total rare earths in deep-sea mud taken in the waters around distant Pacific islands.

In February, Chikyu, a mining ship supported by the Japanese government, collected a total of 50 tons of sea mud during a one-month mission in Minamitori, 1900 kilometers southeast of Tokyo.

This is the first time in the world to recover rare earth from sea mud collected at the bottom of about 6000 meters.

Ju Chi Kikuchi, project director of JAMSTEC, said, "This test will verify the feasibility of domestic rare earth production in Japan".

In March 2028, Japan will also conduct an in-depth study on the commercial potential of the project.

The Japanese government did not disclose the scale of the deposit or the grade of rare earth in the collected sea mud. Officials said that the time and sampling range are limited, and there is insufficient data to estimate the amount of resources.

Analysts found yttrium for aerospace, energy and semiconductors, gadolinium for nuclear magnetic resonance imaging and other high-tech products, and dysprosium for high-strength magnets for electric vehicles.

In 2024, researchers from the University of Tokyo and the Japan Foundation discovered more than 200 million tons of manganese nodules rich in battery metals in the Pacific Ocean, indicating that the seabed resources have great potential at a depth of 5,500 meters.

Another study conducted by the University of Tokyo and the Japan Foundation estimated that the submarine nodules in the study area contained about 610,000 tons of cobalt, which was enough for Japan to use for 75 years and 740,000 tons of nickel, which was enough for Japan to use for 11 years.

Japan plans to conduct a new one-month experiment in the above-mentioned waters in February 2027, with the goal of collecting 350 tons of sea mud every day.

Sea mud will be dehydrated in Nanniao Island and then transported to land for separation, smelting and refining.

The purpose of this experiment is to determine whether seabed resources can support Japan's commercial rare earth production and reduce its dependence on foreign imports.

source:https://geoglobal.mnr.gov.cn/zx/kydt/kykj/202607/t20260728_10281278.htm