Japan Looking at Mining Rare Earth Elements from Seabed

Researchers at the University of Tokyo claim to have discovered rich deposits of rare earth elements off the coast of a chain of islands to the south of the capital city.

Deep Sea Rare Earth Elements Deposits

The recently discovered deposits could amount to two hundred times the amount of rare earth elements that Japan requires annually, thus reducing the country's dependence on China for supplies of rare earth elements, but extracting them from the sea floor will need advanced drilling technology and large scale funding.

If the rare earth elements mining project proves to be feasible, the metropolitan government of Tokyo plans to establish a special fund and encouraging public investment. It is hoped that the central government will aslo contribute to the fund in order to aid the development of the country's natural resources. The newly appointed governor, Naoki Inose, a former vice-governor and prizewinning author who was elected in a landslide election this week, has also stated that funds will be allocated for further research into mining rare earth elements from the sea floor.

Subsidues for Rare Earth Elements Miners

Inose has proposed giving subsidies to companies with the technology to go into the deep sea, joining the project to mine the rare earth elements from the seabed.

Rare earth elements are vital to the production of high-tech products such as electric vehicles and smartphones.

Rare Earth Elements from London Commodity Markets

London Commodity Markets have created a number of buying solutions for rare earth elements. Three packages have been tailor made to cover various end user requirements. To find out more about the Medical package, Technology package or Communications package, visit www.londoncommoditymarkets.com
Alternatively, London Commodity Markets can offer clients the flexibility of bespoke packages to suit individual requirements.

For all the latest news on rare earth investments, follow London Commodity Markets on Twitter.