Japan starts world-first mission to mine rare earths from seabed

Japan has initiated a pioneering month-long deep-sea mission to extract rare earth elements from mud located 6 kilometers beneath the ocean surface near Minamitori Island, about 1,900 kilometers southeast of Tokyo. This mission, conducted by the test mining vessel Chikyu, aims to achieve the world’s first continuous recovery of rare earth-rich mud from such depths. The project represents a significant technological milestone and is part of Japan’s strategic effort to develop a domestic source of critical minerals essential for electric vehicles, electronics, and defense systems, thereby reducing its heavy reliance on China, which currently supplies around 60% of Japan’s rare earth imports. The initiative follows years of preparation and comes amid escalating diplomatic and trade tensions with China, which has tightened controls on critical mineral exports and recently banned dual-use item exports to Japan. Japan has invested approximately $250 million since 2018 into this project, though no reserve estimates or production targets have been disclosed. If successful, the mission could diversify Japan’s rare