The Japanese government plans to conduct large-scale tests
in February to extract rare earth minerals from the seabed near a remote
Pacific island, after a scientific mission successfully recovered samples from
a depth of approximately six kilometers.
The initiative is part of Japan's strategy to strengthen its
supply of critical minerals and reduce its dependence on imports. The United
States and other nations are also pursuing similar projects with the aim of
diversifying their sources of these resources, used in strategic sectors such
as the semiconductor industry, wind turbine manufacturing, electronic
equipment, and defense systems.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi reported that the
samples obtained earlier this year contained traces of yttrium, one of the
elements classified as rare earth elements.
According to the president, yttrium is a globally scarce
mineral and is essential for manufacturing coatings used in semiconductor
production equipment, catalysts for reducing nitrogen oxides in exhaust gases,
and various components for the automotive and technology industries. Therefore,
she emphasized that ensuring its availability is a strategic priority for
Japan.