‘Japan To Extract Rare Earths From Seabed Starting 2024’
Rare Earth oxides (USDA)
Japan has announced that is it taking a step to increase its ability to trade and support its economy
Japan To Extract Rare Earths From Seabed Starting 2024
December 24, 2022
Japan plans on beginning the extraction of rare earth metals from the region around Minamitorishima Island in 2024 as the country attempts to wean away from depending on China for critical resources.
Work on developing extraction technologies for the endeavor will begin next year. …
Rare Earths in Japan
Mud that is rich in rare earth elements and yttrium (REY) has several advantages like “high rare earth element content (especially the heavy rare-earth elements [HREE] from Eu to Lu), huge amounts, a paucity of radioactive elements (U and Th), and easy extraction and recovery. Therefore, the mud is expected to be viewed as a highly promising new mineral resource,” states a 2018 study published in Nature.
Eu refers to Europium, Lu to Lutetium, U to Uranium, and Th to Thorium. In 2013, REY-rich mud with deep-sea sediments containing 2,000 parts per million (ppm) to over 5,000 ppm was found in the Japanese Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) around Minamitorishima Island. …
US Move
Japan’s push to cut back dependence on China for the supply of rare earths is a policy that is also being pursued by Washington. https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/japan-extract-rare-earths-seabed-starting-2024
The US itself has been looking to get around potential rare earth restriction from China:
US Wants to Disrupt China’s Rare Earth Dominance
PENTAGON – The U.S. military wants to partner with Australia to disrupt China’s dominance over the global supply of rare earths — the minerals essential to high-tech products from cellphones to sophisticated weapons.
Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord told reporters Monday the Pentagon’s “highest potential avenue” is to build a rare earths processing facility with Australia in order to take care of the Pentagon’s needs and the needs of other international allies.
“The challenge is really the processing of them [rare earths] and having the facilities to do that, because quite often China mines them elsewhere and brings them back to China to process them,” Lord said.
About 80% of rare earth minerals imported by the United States come from China, and in 2017, China accounted for 81% of the world’s rare earth production, according to data from the U.S. Geological Survey.
Rare earth minerals are needed in U.S. military jet engines, satellites, missile defense systems and night vision devices.
“We’re concerned about any fragility in the supply chain, especially when an adversary controls the supply,” Lord said.
Earlier this year, China’s state economic planner issued a veiled threat to withhold the strategic minerals as part of the ongoing trade war between Washington and Beijing.
“If anyone were to use products that are made with the rare earths that we export to curb the development of China, then the Chinese people would be unhappy,” the official said. 08/26/19 https://www.voanews.com/usa/us-wants-disrupt-chinas-rare-earth-dominance
Here is some information on the rare earth element situation that I reported here in the past:
May 30, 2019
Rare earth minerals are a common part of people’s lives — and their futures.
If you have a smartphone or computer, own a flat-screen TV, drive a hybrid car or use a myriad of other high-tech devices, you’ll no doubt come into contact with these elements — mined from the earth’s crust and supplied predominantly by China — countless times a day.
But they are also used in obscure but powerful ways that ensure some of the biggest companies in the world can keep churning out those products.
Now, rare earths have become a bargaining chip in the expanding trade war between China and the United States …
Rare earth minerals are a crucial component of products that cut across the U.S. economy …
Despite their name, rare earths aren’t all that rare. The U.S. Geological Survey describes them as a “relatively abundant group” of 17 chemical elements. What makes them unusual, however, is that they’re difficult to extract in high concentrations from the ground.
The elements’ names, which include cerium, promethium, scandium, might sound like something out of science fiction, but each one can be used for a variety of purposes — from making magnets, batteries and lights, to glass production and the cooling of nuclear rods.
The U.S. military also depends on rare earths for the construction of equipment used in satellites, lasers, jet engines, radar and sonar systems, and other sophisticated machinery. …
Are rare earths at stake in this trade war?
China’s President Xi Jinping may have tipped his hand last week when he toured a region of China that calls itself a “rare earths kingdom.” https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/u-s-china-trade-war-rare-earth-elements-think-smartphones-n1011561
I have been warning about China’s dominance of rare earth elements since 2009 (e.g. see China’s Rare Earth Power). They look to be one area that China feels its dominance can help it with the trade disputes with the USA.
The USA is also looking at domestic production to reduce its dependence on China for rare earth minerals.
Getting back to rare earth elements, here is some information about them:
A rare-earth element (REE) or rare-earth metal (REM), as defined by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, is one of a set of seventeen chemical elements in the periodic table, specifically the fifteen lanthanides, as well as scandium and yttrium. Scandium and yttrium are considered rare-earth elements because they tend to occur in the same ore deposits as the lanthanides and exhibit similar chemical properties, but have different electronic and magnetic properties. Rarely, a broader definition that includes actinides may be used, since the actinides share some mineralogical, chemical, and physical (especially electron shell configuration) characteristics.
The 17 rare-earth elements are cerium (Ce), dysprosium (Dy), erbium (Er), europium (Eu), gadolinium (Gd), holmium (Ho), lanthanum (La), lutetium (Lu), neodymium (Nd), praseodymium (Pr), promethium (Pm), samarium (Sm), scandium (Sc), terbium (Tb), thulium (Tm), ytterbium (Yb), and yttrium (Y). They are often found in minerals with thorium (Th), and less commonly uranium (U).
Despite their name, rare-earth elements are – with the exception of the radioactive promethium – relatively plentiful in Earth’s crust, with cerium being the 25th most abundant element at 68 parts per million, more abundant than copper. However, because of their geochemical properties, rare-earth elements are typically dispersed and not often found concentrated in rare-earth minerals; as a result economically exploitable ore deposits are less common. …
The uses, applications, and demand for rare-earth elements has expanded over the years. Globally, most REEs are used for catalysts and magnets. In USA, more than half of REEs are used for catalysts, and ceramics, glass and polishing are also main uses.
Other important uses of rare-earth elements are applicable to the production of high-performance magnets, alloys, glasses, and electronics. Ce and La are important as catalysts, and are used for petroleum refining and as diesel additives. Nd is important in magnet production in traditional and low-carbon technologies. Rare-earth elements in this category are used in the electric motors of hybrid and electric vehicles, generators in wind turbines, hard disc drives, portable electronics, microphones, speakers.
Ce, La and Nd are important in alloy making, and in the production of fuel cells and Nickel-metal hydride batteries. Ce, Ga and Nd are important in electronics and are used in the production of LCD and plasma screens, fiber optics, lasers, as well as in medical imaging. Additional uses for earth elements are as tracers in medical applications, fertilizers, and in water treatment.
REEs have been used in agriculture to increase plant growth, productivity, and stress resistance seemingly without negative effects for human and animal consumption. REEs are used in agriculture through REE-enriched fertilizers which is a widely used practice in China. In addition, REEs are feed additives for livestock which has resulted in increased production such as larger animals and a higher production of eggs and dairy products. However, this practice has resulted in REE bio-accumulation within livestock and has impacted vegetation and algae growth in these agricultural areas. Additionally while no ill effects have been observed at current low concentrations the effects over the long term and with accumulation over time are unknown prompting some calls for more research into their possible effects. …
Mining, refining, and recycling of rare earths have serious environmental consequences if not properly managed. (Rare-earth element. Wikipedia, accessed 08/27/19)
One of the reasons that the US became fairly dependent upon China is because of environmental concerns and regulations associated with mining and processing these elements.
Anyway, because of US military, tech industry, and other uses, the US is trying to figure out what to do should China stop selling and/or processing them. The US could be greatly harmed by being cut-off from sufficient supplies of rare-earth elements. Japan sees issues as well.
Trade issues will become more serious than most believe.
That said, Japan is a ‘king of the east’ (Revelation 16:12) and will one day decide it must militarily align with China.
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