The Chinese ban on exports to Japan threatens, no hyperbole, the existence of Japan's high-tech industries. China had previously cut Japan off in 2010 and our 2021 comment looking back on Japan's response was:
"Japan’s global rare earths quest holds lessons for the US and Europe"The thing that stood out at the time was how open-minded the Japanese were about potential sources. If the scientists said they thought they could recover rare earths from sewage, the government said "Go find out" From offshore deposits? Ditto.*
And today's story, from Singapore's Straits Times, January 12:
A Japanese mining ship departed on Jan 12 for a remote coral atoll to probe mud rich in rare earths, part of Tokyo’s drive to curb its reliance on China for critical minerals as Beijing tightens supply.
The month-long mission of the test vessel Chikyu near Minamitori island, some 1,900km south-east of Tokyo, will mark the world’s first attempt to continuously lift rare earth seabed sludge from 6km deep onto a ship.
Japan, like its Western allies, has been reducing its dependence on China for the minerals vital to the production of cars, smartphones and military equipment, an effort that has taken on urgency amid a major diplomatic dispute with Beijing.
“After seven years of steady preparation, we can finally begin the confirmation tests. It’s deeply moving,” Mr Shoichi Ishii, the head of the government-backed project told Reuters, as the vessel left the port city of Shizuoka on a sunny day, with a snow-capped Mount Fuji in the background.
“If this project succeeds, it will be of great significance in diversifying Japan’s rare earth resource procurement,” he said, adding that recovering the key minerals from 6km below sea level would be a major technological achievement....
....MUCH MORE
