Japan Finds “Semi-infinite” Trove of Rare Earth Elements

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Despite fears that the world could be running out of critical minerals, a team of researchers in Japan has discovered a massive reserve of rare earth elements: 16 million tons of rare earth oxide and various other elements were found, enough to feed global demand on a “semi-infinite basis.”

The world relies heavily on China for rare earths, with Beijing producing most of the elements currently available on the market. But Beijing has severely restricted exports of these products at times of diplomatic tension. In 2010, for example, Japanese manufacturers faced serious supply shortages as China limited the valuable exports.
 
Small problem: it's spread in deep-sea mud.

Second small problem: the total amount is an extrapolation of an estimate of a sample area. So, quite possibly, an exaggeration of a factor 10.
 
emphy said:
Small problem: it's spread in deep-sea mud.

Second small problem: the total amount is an extrapolation of an estimate of a sample area. So, quite possibly, an exaggeration of a factor 10.
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Versus not having any...
 
emphy said:
Small problem: it's spread in deep-sea mud.
Click to expand...

They already solved that problem.

"The team has also developed an efficient method to separate valuable elements from others in the mud."
 
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"Semi-infinite" = probably a botched translation from the Japanese original?

Also, just because there's this (potentially) huge reserve of rare earth oxides and a method of extracting them, there's no guarantee it's not without heroic effort and cost. On the other hand, not having a single source is a good_thing.
 
Rare earths are heavy and sink to the mud and are usually created by undersea volcanic vents. Large areas of the pacific ocean near the mid-pacific ridge have been identified containing high concentrations of rare earths. Ocean mining by dredge has been practical for years but environmental and international rights (Who has rights and how much share) concerns have hampered development. The Japanese should develop this quickly to provided the best scientific data on environmental data so that ocean mining can become more accepted.
 
God bless their souls, they finally found something of use on those resource-barren islands, other than the wonderful people inhabiting them of course!

The only place I went to where I kinda felt just like a barbarian must have felt when visiting Rome back in the ancient times.
 
How close is this mud to Fukushima? Maybe it’s related? Hmm....
 
Dear God please let this work out so that we can extricate ourselves from the grasp of china's monopoly on these materials.
 
There's plenty of rare earth metals here in the US. It's just that China undercut US suppliers so that they became unprofitable and closed down the mines. I think a few have reopened since China started their embargo tactics a few years ago and the DoD got anxious. Rest assured, the US is not dependent on China for rare earth metals in the long run...the longer we can reserve our stockpiles the better.
 
Look at that island. It is shark-tooth shaped.

That had to be one massive shark!
 
MrTryfe said:
What the hell does "semi-infinite" even mean? It's either finite or it isn't. There's no "semi-infinite".
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It means that there's enough stuff for us and our children and probably then some. It won't run out in our lifetimes.
 
gigaxtreme1 said:
Rare earths are heavy and sink to the mud and are usually created by undersea volcanic vents. Large areas of the pacific ocean near the mid-pacific ridge have been identified containing high concentrations of rare earths. Ocean mining by dredge has been practical for years but environmental and international rights (Who has rights and how much share) concerns have hampered development. The Japanese should develop this quickly to provided the best scientific data on environmental data so that ocean mining can become more accepted.
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They eat whales and dolphins... you think they care about environmental concerns?
 
MrTryfe said:
What the hell does "semi-infinite" even mean? It's either finite or it isn't. There's no "semi-infinite".
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It means at the end of the day we can knock it out of the ball park with enough senergy to decimate the competition. Even better if we use The Cloud to help with the AI computing necessary for the big data that is literally required as part of the solution.

Buzzwords and hyperbole. It sounds cool. That's all.
 
Semi-infinity...

your-statement-gave-me-forest-whitaker-eye.jpg
 
daringx said:
There's plenty of rare earth metals here in the US. It's just that China undercut US suppliers so that they became unprofitable and closed down the mines. I think a few have reopened since China started their embargo tactics a few years ago and the DoD got anxious. Rest assured, the US is not dependent on China for rare earth metals in the long run...the longer we can reserve our stockpiles the better.
Click to expand...

There is a local company here in Austin called Urban Mining Company that is building a massive facility to recycle electronics and extract rare earth minerals. Pretty promising with plenty of commercial and government (Defense Logistics Agency Phase II) funding.
 
Skillz said:
They already solved that problem.

"The team has also developed an efficient method to separate valuable elements from others in the mud."
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Reducing material to a slurry (mud) is a common mining technique, anyway.
 
Ur_Mom said:
It means at the end of the day we can knock it out of the ball park with enough senergy to decimate the competition. Even better if we use The Cloud to help with the AI computing necessary for the big data that is literally required as part of the solution.

Buzzwords and hyperbole. It sounds cool. That's all.
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Kind of like 'running out of rare earth elements'?
 
MrTryfe said:
What the hell does "semi-infinite" even mean? It's either finite or it isn't. There's no "semi-infinite".
Click to expand...

"Place the turkey in a pre-heated oven. It's ridiculous! There's only two states an oven can possibly exist in, heated or unheated. Preheated is a meaningless fucking term" /quote: George Carlin

Cliffs: Some people have the dumb
 
jpm100 said:
Kind of like 'running out of rare earth elements'?
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More like "China is controlling the availability of rare earth elements". I like when there is more than one provider of something. Not only for competition, but I don't like one entity controlling something and only them dictating the rules and prices. The spice must flow.
 
wyqtor said:
God bless their souls, they finally found something of use on those resource-barren islands, other than the wonderful people inhabiting them of course!

The only place I went to where I kinda felt just like a barbarian must have felt when visiting Rome back in the ancient times.
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Resource Barren?

When I visited Japan we stayed a week in Hagi. It was a veratible paradise of wildlife, trees, food, sea. Seemed a beautiful abundance through the countryside we visited. It’s the prettiest place besides Yosemite that I’ve ever seen.
 
dont think i would want to be on that "island" if there was any sort of storm. Looks like all it needs is one good wave to clear it.
 
"rare" earths are not rare (despite the name). They're just environmentally messy to mine, so we left it up to the Chinese.

There are several mines here in the US that could re-open, if prices rose enough to afford the EPA cleanup standards.
 
Ur_Mom said:
More like "China is controlling the availability of rare earth elements". I like when there is more than one provider of something. Not only for competition, but I don't like one entity controlling something and only them dictating the rules and prices. The spice must flow.
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China will go back to dumping if Japan tries to enter the market. Japan will likely use this for themselves and not try to export.
 
jpm100 said:
China will go back to dumping if Japan tries to enter the market. Japan will likely use this for themselves and not try to export.
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Likely, and China no longer has leverage, even if the rest of the world still bought from China. And that's the important thing.
 
A recent Daisy Cutter deployment in Syria has accidentally uncovered a semi-infinite supply of rare earth elements in Syria.

President Trump has invited both Assad and Putin to a clam bake at Mar-a-Lago. BYOB (note: the second B is not the word "bomb").
 
Time for Trump to liberate Japan, they seem to lack a lot of freedom.
 
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If we get our asses into space, we have access to a whole hell of a lot more elements.
 
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