US EditionJapan starts deep-sea rare earth test mining to cut reliance on China
Japan's month-long deep-sea test aims to assess equipment and commercial viability to reduce rare earth reliance on China, now down to 60%, officials said.
- On Monday, January 12, 2026, the test vessel Chikyu departed for Minamitori Island to begin a month-long mission lifting rare-earth seabed sludge through Feb. 14.
- Facing Beijing's tightened controls, China last week banned exports of critical minerals to Japan's military, prompting Tokyo to reduce reliance on China from 90 per cent to 60 per cent.
- JAMSTEC's research vessel Jikyu will lower mining equipment about 6,000 meters to extract rare earth mud, with separation and purification onboard and on land, samples possibly recovered this month.
- Japanese officials will review commercial viability and plan full-scale experiments that could bring up to 350 tons of sediment a day, amid G7 talks in Washington on Monday.
- Takahide Kiuchi said `The fundamental solution is to be able to produce rare earths inside Japan`, emphasizing domestic production efforts.
29 Articles
29 Articles
The rare earths are full of precious ores, especially for the manufacture of batteries. Japan will try to extract them at sea, at 6,000 meters deep. This is a world first at this depth. - Rare land at sea: Japan is attempting an extraction at 6,000 meters deep, a world first (International).
This Sunday, January 11th, Japan launched a mining operation at a depth of 6,000 metres under the sea. The aim is to recover rare earths. These metals, of which China has the majority of the deposits, are necessary for electronic equipment. Tokyo justifies this operation in order to free itself from this dependence as the tension rises with Beijing. But here, to go scraping the seabed to 6,000 meters deep, it is far from being annoyed.
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