GoKawiilIt's called Minamitorishima, and it's a small atoll in the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the most remote islands in Japan's vast archipelago, so much so that it lies nearly 2,000 kilometers southeast of Tokyo. Yet from the depths of the surrounding seas may come a tremendous gift for the country's economy.
It is there, as deep as 6,000 meters undersea, that a group of Japanese researchers succeeded in a veritable mission impossible: the recovery of sediments containing rare-earth elements from one of the most promising underwater deposits discovered in recent years.
The feat is set to strengthen Japan's role in the increasingly crucial rare earths sector, a central element in the trade war between China and the United States. Indeed, Japan is the only major industrial country that, while remaining partially exposed, has managed to significantly reduce its dependence on Beijing.
The “Mission Impossible” in the Pacific Seabed
The Minamitorishima operation, conducted with the scientific deep-sea drilling vessel Chikyu, represents the world's first attempt to sample at such depths.
The Japanese government called the result “a significant milestone in terms of economic security and overall maritime development,” stressing that ongoing analysis will now have to determine the precise quantity and quality of elements present in the extracted samples. But beyond the technical aspect, the value of the undertaking is above all strategic.
Rare earths are a group of 17 metals critical to advanced technologies. They go into the production of high-strength magnets for electric vehicles, wind turbines, electronic devices, semiconductors, radar systems, missiles, and more. Elements such as dysprosium and yttrium, of which the area around Minamitorishima contains estimated reserves of 730 and 780 years of consumption, respectively, have become critical materials for modern industry and defense. According to some estimates, the Japanese submarine deposit could contain more than 16 million tons of rare earths, shaping up as the world's third-largest reserve.
The Shock of 2010 and the Strategic Shift
Tokyo’s race toward mining self-sufficiency didn't begin today. It has its roots in 2010, when a diplomatic crisis with Beijing bluntly exposed Japanese vulnerability.
After an incident between a Chinese fishing boat and two Japanese coast guard units near the Senkaku Islands, China blocked rare earth exports to Japan for about two months. At the time, Tokyo was dependent on Beijing for more than 90 percent of its imports of these materials. The embargo caused panic across industries, particularly in the automotive sector, and global prices of rare earths increased tenfold within a year.
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