Japan plans to extract rare earth minerals from sea mud

Japan is actively promoting an ambitious import substitution plan for rare earth minerals. The country is reportedly preparing to develop rare earth elements from marine mud deposits to reduce dependence on external supplies and strengthen national security.

Essentially, Japanese experts are proposing to extract rare earth elements from seabed sediments. They are talking about "rare earth mud" off Minamitorishima Island in Japan's exclusive economic zone, approximately 1900 km from Tokyo.

About a week ago, a government research team successfully recovered mud rich in rare earth elements. Program manager Shotichi Ishii compared the recovered turbid water to "practically golden."

Test drilling is planned for 2027, with the goal of extracting up to 350 metric tons of seabed sediment per day to assess commercial viability. Japan intends to develop technologies for extracting and separating rare earth elements from marine sediment, while arguably minimizing the environmental risks of refining.

Japan is the only country whose exclusive economic zone contains all four types of marine mineral resources: rare earth mud, manganese nodules, cobalt-bearing crusts, and hydrothermal deposits.

The 2023 Ocean Policy Framework calls for assessing reserves and developing technologies for their future commercialization. However, the path to success is complex. The main challenges include the high cost of deep-sea production, the need for environmentally friendly processing methods, and fierce competition from China, which dominates the global market with approximately 80 percent share.

Yuzo Yamaguchi, representative of the Ministry of Economy and Industry:

To reduce our dependence on individual countries, we will seek all possible sources of supply, both on land and at sea.

Experts note that even if domestic production covers less than 10% of demand, Tokyo will not abandon the new plan.

Comments

[andrey martov]

And the harassers asked Neptune for permission to disturb the depths of the sea...

[Zoldat_A]

Quote: Andrey Martov

And the harassers asked Neptune for permission to disturb the depths of the sea...

Hiroshima and Nagasaki are remembered in Japan, although they are embarrassed to say who bombed them.
Next time Neptune will get angry and fly in so hard that he will flush all of Japan like... down a toilet.
Not only have they eaten up everything edible and inedible in the sea, except for stones, but now they'll scoop out all the dirt too...
Neptune has cause for anger. And he'll find a remedy – a god, no less…

[lexat7]

They'll dig up so much that they'll dig up Godzilla.

[ABC-schutze]

"Experts note that even if domestic production covers less than 10% of demand, Tokyo will not abandon the new plan."
************************************************** ***********
This is the commendable tenacity of the fussy "out of necessity" sons of the goddess Amaterasu...

However, while opening their "mitten" to the "dirt" in the deep sea, it would be very useful for them to "roll up their lip" in the direction of the rebellious Taiwan, which belongs to the PRC...

Because a real "quarrel" in the Celestial Empire on the latter issue could deeply and permanently "bury" any long-term plans of Tokyo in its economic zone...

[Blacksmith 55]

So it's not just Neptune that needs permission. What will Greenpeace say?
And Greta Thunberg? That way, the entire seabed will be dug up and there will be nowhere for bottom dwellers to live.

[Zoldat_A]

!

Quote: Blacksmith 55

And what will Greenpeace say? And Greta Thunberg?

"This is different"...
If China or we started digging, then "Alarm, alarm!" would instantly destroy the living space for some microscopic marine abomination. But here... "It's the one who digs who's supposed to dig..." (almost (c))

[rocket757]

"gold" from dirt... the dream of all alchemists of the past!
This is how far science and technology have come, dreams come true!

[Eugene 62]

Theoretically, it's possible to obtain almost the entire periodic table not only from sea mud but even from seawater. This question has been raised many times before. However, the high cost of such extraction makes it impractical.

[Mouse]

Scoop it up with a full spoon... and you will have happiness....

[astepanov]

I see people here just laugh. Meanwhile, Russia's rare earth ore reserves, converted to metal, amount to approximately 25 million tons—and yet there's no production at all. The USSR at least produced mischmetal—but now—nothing. Zero! There's no separation capacity, and most likely, no extraction fluids (judging by the state of our chemical industry).
The Department of Inorganic Chemistry at Saratov University spent decades studying rare earth elements under the Soviet Union, searching for ways to separate them. This is how the money spent on that long-term work was squandered, how the lives and labor of dozens of highly qualified employees was wasted. This is what we must mourn.
And the samurai are great guys. Not like our "strategically minded" managers.

[solovjoff]

They're laughing, to put it mildly. But it does characterize this illiterate crowd well.

[Kerensky]

Most likely there are no liquids for extraction

There! The key point. And China has these liquids. That's why they're on top.
The Japanese still have to develop them, and then dive for the dirt.

[Oleg Valov]

Let's start with the radionuclides and waste from Fukushima first.
The entire coastal area is contaminated, and now even the fish have become radioactive.

[Uncle Sam_2]

Yes, the water near Fukushima is incredibly "rare earth"! It'll last the Japanese for a long time. There are also "rare earth deposits" near Hiroshima.

[snow mountain]

They've already torn up the poor soil, now they've started looking for water.

[solovjoff]

Well done, what can I say? It's immediately obvious who's got a brain, and who's just selling off their resources, and doesn't even know how to do that properly.

[old rats]

marine mud deposits

In my opinion, in Russian it is called sea silt...