The initiative, led by a government-backed project, aims to reduce reliance on imports and strengthen national security.

TOKYO: Japan will from January attempt to extract rare earth minerals from the ocean floor in the deepest trial of its kind, ...

The Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), under the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science ...

While rich mineral deposits promise centuries of supply, critics argue Japan’s deep-ocean venture risks an irreversible ‘race to the bottom’.

Japan plans to begin pioneering test mining for rare-earth-rich mud from the deep seabed in January next year, the head of the government-backed project told ...

When China began its crackdown on the sector some fifteen years ago, there were hundreds of miners and processors. By 2013 ...

India has asked state-run miner IREL to suspend a 13-year-old agreement on rare earth exports to Japan and to safeguard supplies for domestic needs, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, ...

Japan will conduct the first deep-sea trial to extract rare earth minerals from 5,500 meters below the ocean surface near Minami Torishima, aiming to test mining equipment rather than maximize yield.