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Japan Team Maps 'Semi-Infinite' Trove of Rare Earth Elements (japantimes.co.jp)
schwit1 quotes a report from The Japan Times: Japanese researchers have mapped vast reserves of rare earth elements in deep-sea mud, enough to feed global demand on a "semi-infinite basis," according to a new study. The deposit, found within Japan's exclusive economic zone waters, contains more than 16 million tons of the elements needed to build high-tech products ranging from mobile phones to electric vehicles, according to the study, released Tuesday in the journal Scientific Reports. The team, comprised of several universities, businesses and government institutions, surveyed the western Pacific Ocean near Minamitori Island. In a sample area of the mineral-rich region, the team's survey estimated 1.2 million tons of "rare earth oxide" is deposited there, said the study, conducted jointly by Waseda University's Yutaro Takaya and the University of Tokyo's Yasuhiro Kato, among others. The finding extrapolates that a 2,500-sq. km region off the southern Japanese island should contain 16 million tons of the valuable elements, and "has the potential to supply these metals on a semi-infinite basis to the world," the study said.
There goes asteroid mining.
I thought Slashdot's new owner would fix this shit by now.
It's already semi-infinite
Is that a bit like semi-pregnant?
Am I the only person who's first reaction was to think "AHA! So mining these rare earth metals are what will awaken Godzilla"
A Chinese scholar just discovered a long lost 14th century docx file declaring the sea around Japan as Chinese sovereign territory, pushing aside a Korean waving a 15th century PDF file claiming it was theirs.
I tried every decent and legal way I could think of to resolve the issue w/the business before I rented the chicken suit