Japan steps up underwater mineral search

Claudette Werden -

Tokyo has announced it is ramping up its search for undersea mineral reserves in the Pacific.

The Japan Oil, Gas and Metals Corporation has been conducting basic surveys in waters close to the Northern Marianas.

Initial studies show that part of the Pacific is rich in deposits of undersea minerals which are used in the manufacture of electronics.

The Japanese government has now decided to take direct control of the project.

Professor Bernd Lottermoser, an expert in rare earth deposits, told Radio Australia's Asia Pacific program that Tokyo's decision to step up its search for the metals is a strategic one.

"... to ensure they can manufacture their electronic devices without being held at ransom by the supply of rare earth elements by another nation," he said.

Mines in China had supplied about 97 per cent of the world's rare earth minerals - an essential component in many high-tech goods like smart phones, computers and lasers.

Late last year Beijing announced it was cutting its exports, reserving them for domestic production.

Political scientist and president of Japan's Niigata University, Professor Takashi Inoguchi, says Japan is now trying to secure a reliable source of its own.

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