Japan intensifies search for undersea minerals in Pacific
Updated
Tokyo has announced that it is stepping up its search for undersea mineral reserves in the Pacific.
This sets the stage for an exploration race between Japan, China and South Korea. The Japan Oil, Gas and Metals Corporation had been conducting basic surveys in waters close to the Northern Marianas. But the government has now decided to take direct control of the project.
Presenter: Claudette Werden.
Talent: Professor Bernd Lottermoser, University of Tasmania; Professor Takashi Inoguchi, President University of Niigata Prefecture
- WERDEN: It used to be called Marcus Island, but is now known as Minamitorishima, the eastern most territory of Japan. It lies nearly two-thousand kilometres southeast of Tokyo and its closest neighbour is a small group of islands belonging to the Northern Marianas. Initial studies show that part of the Pacific is rich in deposits of undersea minerals that are used in the manufacturer of electronics .
Expert in rare earth deposits, Professor Bernd Lottermoser says Tokyo's decision to step up its search for the metals is a strategic one.
LOTTERMOSER: To ensure they can manufacture their electronic devices without being held at ransom by the supply of rare earth elements by another nation.
WERDEN: Clearly they must have an abundance under the sea, why wouldn't they look for a land mass?
LOTTERMOSER: Japan is not suitable, it hasn't got the right geology.
WERDEN: Mines in China had supplied about 97 per cent of the world's rare earths minerals, an essential component in many high tech goods like smart phones, computers and lasers. But late last year, Beijing announced it was cutting back 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.
INOGUCHI: Many governments and many business funds are interested in exploring such rare metals everywhere on the globe so it's not surprising that the Japanese try to make best use of whatever resources that might exist under their territorial waters.
WERDEN: The Japanese government has allocated US$84 million over the next financial year for the exploration and possible mining of undersea mineral deposits. Professor Inoguchi says China, South Korea and other neighbouring countries have also shown interest in exploring natural resources in the waters just outside Japan's exclusive economic zone.
INOGUCHI: Territorial waters and the rights to explore resources under the seabed will be more or less monopolised by the Japanese government, so the Chinese government and other governments may not be particularly happy about that. Interpretation of territorial waters differ tremendously from one country to another. If it's not monopolised territorial waters by Japan, China would like to explore resources over there as well.
WERDEN: Professor Lottermoser says the idea of mining minerals from the ocean is not new. Studies have been done in the Red Sea in the 1960s. He says the challenge is the technology to extract these elements and minerals from the sea floor in a manner that's environmentally sound and economically viable.