JAMSTEC Recovers Approximately 50 Tons of Rare Earth Mud off Minamitorishima, Succeeds in Continuous Pumping from 5,569m Water Depth
Under the Cabinet Office's Strategic Innovation Creation Program (SIP) "Construction of an Ocean Security Platform" (Program Director: Masakazu Ishii; "SIP Ocean"), demonstration tests are being conducted for exploration, mining, separation, refining, and smelting of rare earth mud beneath the seafloor in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) around Minamitorishima Island, which is attracting attention as a submarine mineral resource. In this effort, the program announced that it succeeded for the first time in the world in continuously lifting mud from the seafloor at a water depth of 5,569 m (pipe length) to the vessel, and that analysis of the recovered rare earth mud revealed that "approximately 54% of the total rare earths are middle and heavy rare earths such as yttrium, gadolinium, and dysprosium."
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Under the Cabinet Office's Strategic Innovation Creation Program (SIP) "Construction of an Ocean Security Platform" (Program Director: Masakazu Ishii; "SIP Ocean"), demonstration tests are being conducted for exploration, mining, separation, refining, and smelting of rare earth mud beneath the seafloor in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) around Minamitorishima Island, which is attracting attention as a submarine mineral resource. In this effort, the program announced that it succeeded for the first time in the world in continuously lifting mud from the seafloor at a water depth of 5,569 m (pipe length) to the vessel, and that analysis of the recovered rare earth mud revealed that "approximately 54% of the total rare earths are middle and heavy rare earths such as yttrium, gadolinium, and dysprosium."