TOKYO — Japan said Monday it has successfully drilled and retrieved deep-sea sediment containing rare earth minerals from the seabed near a remote island, as the country seeks to reduce its reliance on China.
The deep-sea drilling vessel Chikyu's successful gathered the sediment at a depth of nearly 6,000 kilometers near the island of Minamitorishima, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in a statement on X.
The test retrieval of the rare earths from that depth is a world first, she added.
''It is a first step toward industrialization of domestically produced rare earth in Japan,'' Takaichi said. ''We will make effort toward achieving resilient supply chains for rare earths and other critical minerals to avoid overdependence on a particular country."
China controls most of the global production of heavy rare earths, which are used for making powerful, heat-resistant magnets in industries such as defense and electric vehicles.
Japan has faced growing tensions with China since Takaichi's comment in November about a possible Japanese involvement in the case of Chinese military action against Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing claims as its own.
China recently suspended exports to Japan of dual-use goods with potential military use, raising concern in Japan that rare earths may be included.
While 17 elements are classified as rare earth, the U.S. government has identified 50 minerals overall that are labeled critical minerals, which also include a number of other minerals that are seen as essential to the economic and military strength of the nation.
