Jap team maps 'semi-infinite' rare earth reserves, page-85

New article, but I've been unable to establish exactly what prompted it.  However, this is pro-Lynas, because if Japan has supply security, even if it is a decade away, they will be much less likely to abandon REE-based, especially rare earth magnet, technology.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Bu...-academics-lead-hunt-for-rare-earths-in-Japan
Toyota and academics lead hunt for rare earths in Japan
Undersea deposits could be a godsend for industry, but cost is a hurdle

SATORU NIHEI, Nikkei staff writer
July 02, 2018 13:10 JST
Mud rich in rare-earth metals has been found in waters off Minami-Torishima, also known as Marcus Island, 1,860km southeast of Tokyo.   © Kyodo

Excerpts

The University of Tokyo's Rare-Earth Rich Mud Development Promoting Consortium, chaired by professor Yasuhiro Kato, is leading the project. It brings together about 30 players in the resources business, including Toyota, Shin-Etsu Chemical and JGC, as well as Modec. The aim is for the participants to contribute human capital and knowledge in their fields -- exploration, dredging, ore refining and materials development -- to bring the mining project to fruition.

The rare earths are especially concentrated in the seabed mud off Marcus Island. To collect them, pipes are sunk into the sea floor and used to pump up the mud. Separation and refining allow the rare earths to be extracted.


Kato's efforts are directed at developing an efficient recovery technology. "We are trying to make this commercially available in the next decade," he said.


Sluggish prices are another headwind as Japan looks to secure its own supply of resources. Neodymium, for example, which is used in high-performance magnets for electric cars and energy-efficient appliances, trades at around $60 per kilogram. That is more than 80% lower than when the tensions between Japan and China were at their worst. As things stand, it is faster and cheaper to procure these materials from foreign suppliers.

But the equation changes when looking at the medium and long term. "It's a huge advantage, in resource negotiations with overseas powers, to be able to mine one's own resources at any time," said Michio Daito, director of the mineral and resources division of Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Despite the time it takes to develop them, a country with its own supplies has a strong card to play in resource diplomacy.

The key question is whether technological breakthroughs can lower costs. Kato's rare earths consortium has developed a technology to sift through highly-concentrated, fine particles of rare earths on the sea floor. Kato said, "We should see a fair amount of profit, if demand increases with our new recovery methods." Distant though the prospect is, seabed mining of rare earths is beginning to take shape in Japan.