To ensure the supply of domestic critical minerals amid tightening global exports, Japan plans to conduct trial mining of rare-earth-rich mud from the deep-sea seabed near Minamitorishima Island. This government-backed project, led by Shoichi Ishii from the Cabinet Office's Marine Innovation Platform, will deploy pipes using vessels from the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) to attempt extracting and refining rare earths from deep-sea mud, a first globally.
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