Against the backdrop of China tightening its exports of rare earth products, Japan, a country lacking in resources, has decided to "make its debut as a rare earth producer," with its focus on marine resources. According to a report by Nikkei Asia on July 1, Japan plans to launch its first pilot project for mining rare earth minerals from nearshore deposits in January next year. However, it seems that in Japanese media reports, there is an overwhelming emphasis on the potential to "secure supply" without paying much attention to the "costs."
The report states that the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) has already deployed its deep-sea scientific drilling ship "Chikyu" near the remote island of Okinotorishima, and plans to mine the mud on the seabed at a depth of 5,500 meters. In the plan, Japan hopes to collect 35 tons of seabed mud within three weeks and transport it back to the mainland for analysis and refining. The plan estimates that each ton of mud will contain about 2 kilograms of rare earth minerals.
According to Japanese sources, the area around Okinotorishima is estimated to hold about 16 million tons of rare earths, ranking third in the world. These muds are particularly rich in dysprosium and gadolinium, which can be used to make magnets for electric motors and nuclear control rods, among other key-value products. According to reports by Japanese media such as TBS News and Tokyo Television, if Japan can develop these underwater resources, it could potentially rival China in the rare earth production sector and reduce its "reliance on China."
The JAMSTEC's "Chikyu" drilling ship
Nikkei Business News stated that the Japanese government indeed has such a plan. The Japanese government expects that by the 2028 fiscal year, rare earth resources mined from the waters around Okinotorishima could be put into actual production by domestic companies. However, the report also acknowledges that Japan actually does not yet fully understand the specific conditions of these seabed mud deposits located at depths of 4,000 to 6,000 meters.
The reason why Japan has such high expectations for marine resources is largely due to the fact that the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology did indeed collect rare-earth-rich seabed mud in the waters near its territory in 2022. This discovery surprised both the political and economic circles in Japan.
However, it is worth noting that the depth at which the seabed mud was extracted at that time was only 2,500 meters, about half the depth of the later planned seabed mud deposits. Whether the subsequent mining plans are feasible in engineering terms remains to be seen. Additionally, Japan's exploration and mining plans rely heavily on international cooperation. The trial mining project in Okinotorishima was originally scheduled to start in the 2024 fiscal year, but the entire project was delayed due to a delay in the delivery of pipes manufactured by a British company.
The report also mentioned that Japan plans to conduct a longer and larger-scale test extraction in 2027, collecting 1,000 tons of mud over the course of more than a month. At the same time, the Japanese government plans to build a simple refining plant on Okinotorishima to facilitate the subsequent transportation of rare earth resources to Japan for further processing.
There is no doubt that Japan is full of expectations for the "seabed mud rare earth" approach. Not only did the Nikkei Business News report on it, but mainstream media such as Tokyo Television and TBS have also done extensive coverage centered on keywords like "Japan's rare earth" and "treasure mud."
However, Observer Net noticed that the Japanese media's reports seem to focus only on "acquiring raw materials for rare earth resources." As for critical issues such as "what the cost of extracting raw materials at depths over 4,000 meters would be," "how to refine the extracted raw materials," and "whether the capacity for mining and refining can meet the needs of Japan's economic circles," there is almost no further analysis by Japanese media.
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Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7521915640517542436/
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