Take That, China: Japan Finds 200 Years' Worth Of Rare Earth

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

For two years, the world was worried about a possible rare earth shock, triggered by the crafty Chinese. As they are withholding the dirt that is essential for magnets, motors, and generators, an electrified world will go on its knees – or so the theory went.

The opposite happened. Right when everybody was ready to blame the high prices of EVs and hybrids on the Chinese, prices of rare earths crashed. Small miners went belly-up. And now, shockers of shockers, The Nikkei [sub] says that Japan found 200 years’ worth of rare earth near an island. Even bigger shocker: The island is not on the China side of Japan, it’s in the Pacific.

300km (186 miles) off the coast of Minamitori Island, high concentrations of rare earths were found, including dysprosium, used to enhance the performance of motor magnets. Two small problems: The rare earth is at a depth of 5,600m (18,400 ft). The island itself is more than 1,000 miles away from Tokyo in the Pacific Ocean. However, the island and all the islands of the chain are Japanese, as a matter of fact, the islands count as a part of Tokyo. Minamitori itself is the size of a small airport, actually, that’s all it is.

Last year, rare-earth deposits were discovered in international waters. This is the first time a possible deposit has been found in Japanese waters, and it is in waters the Chinese don’t claim as their own. After WWII, the island was under U.S. control until 1968, when it reverted back to Japan.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

More by Bertel Schmitt

Comments
Join the conversation
7 of 17 comments
  • Conslaw Conslaw on Jun 29, 2012

    Minamitori Island is better known to students of WWII history as Marcus Island. Marcus Island is most notable for being as close to the middle of nowhere as just about any place on earth. Whereas most Pacific islands of note are surrounded by many other smaller islands, Minamitori/Marcus is pretty much there by itself, at least 600 miles from any other significant land mass. The USS Enterprise first raided Marcus Island on March 4, 1942 in one of the first offensive actions by the US Navy. Marcus Island was spared invasion by the US because it was just far enough from Japan to be passed up in favor of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Its small size also limited its potential as an advanced base.

  • Wc1972 Wc1972 on Jun 29, 2012

    What a misguided story. The matter of fact is, China had 80% of the rare earth of the world, but sold it "dirt" cheap, until China had only 30% left. Therefore China could hardly be called crafty, as matter of fact, China was extremely dumb. What would American do if the American has a resource that the whole world can't live without, but American has 80% of it? Will they sell then for $10,000/ton, or make them one thousand times more expensive? Not to mention that countries like Japan pretty much dumped the rare earth they bought as deposit, smart, eh?

  • Keyman Keyman on Jun 29, 2012

    At 5000+ meters depth, there's no way to mine that on a mass scale with today's technology. 200 years' worth of rare earth supply for Japan? Perhaps, but not before a 200-year wait until the deep sea mining technology is caught up. Until then, keep buying the Chinese rare earth (if they can get it) and pray for the reopening of US and Australian mines. Excuse me, but are these Chinese rare earth magnets in your Pruis?

  • RHD RHD on Feb 25, 2014

    The US has something the world pretty much can't live without: US dollars. We blithely ship them to China in massive quantities, in exchange for tacky, shoddy holiday decorations, cheap clothing and pretty much everything that we used to manufacture here.

Next