TOKYO -- Japanese researchers have found more than 16 million tons of rare-earth deposits, equivalent to a few hundred years of global consumption, under the seabed near the island of Minami-Torishima, about 1,900km southeast of Tokyo.
Economy
Hundreds of years' worth of rare earths found in Japan territory
Deposits near remote island could ease global dependence on China
A researcher examines a sample taken from the seabed south of Minami-Tori-shima island, about 1,900km southeast of Tokyo. (Courtesy of the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology)
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