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© KYODO200 mil tons of rare metal rocks found in seabed off Japan island
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PTownsend
Good news, as a person who has a prosthesis made in part of cobalt, I hope Japan can maintain control of this area before China claims mythical rights to that part of the sea and tries to take everything found there.
TaiwanIsNotChina
This will be the new great race. Hopefully our governments are ready.
Antiquesaving
Don't panic.
Look it up on a map!
East of Guam one third of the way between Honshu and Hawaii in the Pacific ocean west of Wake island and east of The Mariana Islands.
Close to dead centre of a diamond (like on a deck of cards) in the Pacific of Japan Hawaii, Wake island, and the Mariana Islands.
Prime USA military/navy territory!
No Chinese claims ever made and it would be risky even for China to try something!
sakurasuki
Good luck in bringing those to surface, is it economically feasible?
Don't ever think about environmental impact but since when Japan really care about environment?
https://indepthmag.com/environmental-apocalypse-deep-sea-mining/
ebisen
What Japan islands? That was China's, since over 6000 years ago!
Antiquesaving
Apparently it is already being done.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_sea_mining#:~:text=Deep%20sea%20mining%20is%20the,a%20polymetallic%20nodule%20mining%20operation.
sakurasuki
That's right, people who scream about China threat haven't look at map yet.
https://www.greencarcongress.com/2022/12/20221227-nikkei.html
John
John Oliver did a piece on this a couple of weeks ago. Apparently there’s another patch in the South Pacific. It is being done but it’s not harmlessly picking up the rocks so much as hoovering up the top 10-20 cm of sea bed and spitting out the mud creating a sediment cloud.
I am not necessarily against it given the known impacts of rare Earth metals, but it’s not impact free.
PTownsend
China's claims to historical control over all the lands and seas might soon include: 'Pangea' was Chinese controlled two hundred million years ago, and that China has always had control over plate tectonics shaping modern Earth.
V Campbell
China will try to claim it for sure.
obladi
Heh heh, the first thing I did was to look at how close Minamitori Island is to China. I think this island is safe!
Speed
It's funny how once you start to read the article, almost everyone starts to think of China. I definitely did.
kwatt
As far as I know Minamitori Islands has not been claimed by China in the past, except Senkakus. This island is very far away from China anyway and in Japan's EEZ for a long long time.
Roberto Figari
No problem for China to start claiming property of the island. They will throw some old shipwrecks and ceramics around Minamitori Island and then start harassing the ocupiers.
PTownsend
People keep mentioning maps, but ala the movie "Treasure of the Sierra Madre", 'China don't need no stinking badges nor maps', China claim mythical rights to all the lands seas and heavens. Will Elmo X share the moon or Mars with them, or cede his claims to China, as well.
Antiquesaving
Now come on, you are ruining the China panic button of Soo many here!
Antiquesaving
Nope not me!
First thing I did was locate in on the map!
Seeing where it is, any thought of China wasn't even a thing!
Now the fact it is located between Wake island and the Mariana islands both USA territory, I then wondered if there could be similar claims nearby that the USA can claim!
It all depends on the extent of the deposits and both countries agreed EZ.
China thing is just for the frightened people to go on about!
Antiquesaving
Anyone know why the article doesn't mention China?
Because it is irrelevant based on the location of the island!
If it was then you can rest assured Kyodo news service would have included it!
Stop panicking, the sky isn't falling!
kwatt
It seems like China's idea is always mine is mine, yours is mine, so world is mine.
Desert Tortoise
EEZs only extend 200 nautical miles from shore, unless a special UN body allows a nation to claim a continental shelf that extends beyond 200 nm from shore. I think Norway is the only nation to have succeeded doing this. Russia is trying to claim an EEZ that extends to the North Pole but the UN organization isn't buying that claim. Likewise both India and Sri Lanka are trying to claim an extended EEZ out some 1000 nm from India because there is a sea mount rich in manganese. The Sri Lankans want to claim it and make money. India wants to claim it to prevent the Chinese from getting it through dealings with Sri Lanka.
Minamitori Island is about twice as far east of Okinawa as Okinawa is east of China. It's in the same basic island chain that runs in a big arc from Yap and Palau to Tinian, Guam, Saipan and Iwo Jima. Japan's EEZ would extend 200 nm around each of their islands in this chain but it is not contiguous since you have islands belonging to the US and Federated States of Micronesia.
kibousha
Japan's ocean is rich in rare metals. Even the Kanto plains is full of natural gas, can provide 600 years worth of supply to Japan. I think moving forward, primary sector in Japan will play bigger roles in its economy.
I just hope - I doubt it - our government can manage it like the way Norway manages its resources for the welfare of its citizens.
Fighto!
Outstanding find. These enormous quantities of rare metals will go a long way to securing Japan's self sufficiency in them for hi tech production - for decades. And yes - there can be no dispute with a certain totalitarian, thieving neighbor.
Hopefully the mining begins in '25 - the sooner, the better.
PTownsend
Recall China is claiming it has rights to the Arctic and Antarctic regions, because of something it calls 'nearness'. China's redlines are drawn with specially made Sharpies that bleed to cover any territory it covets.
Christopher
Okay, here is the issue I have with this. This story should not have ever hit the media. Its a great find.
But, it should have been kept contained.
China I am sure is salivating like St Bernard in the August heat at this. Scouring tons of maritime historical scripts all the way back to the Qin dynasty to prove some claim.
This should have been kept a National secret for the time being. Until the mining station was built.
Really dumb. Cool discovery. Good for Japan. But would have it mattered if we knew today or year from?
stormcrow
Better put a Japanese family with a flag on that island before China does.
Pukey2
I'd be more worried about America getting their hands on this.
Mocheake
Yeah, I had the same feeling as soon as I read the title.
Pukey2
Antiquesaving:
Yes, it does seem many people need to have a little knowldge of geography before saying anything.
wallace
China is mentioned 33 times, except in the article.
owzer
Japan: (Finds rare earth metals)
China: ...
Japan: I found that.
China: You found that?
China: ...
China: I found that.
Ramsey's Kitchen
China's claims to historical control over all the lands and seas might soon include: 'Pangea' was Chinese controlled two hundred million years ago, and that China has always had control over plate tectonics shaping modern Earth.
Lol, might happen.
JJE
The longer term environmental questions/consequences of the rape of the oceans are being discarded for short term profits yet again.
ClippetyClop
Since you cheer on an invasion that has calamitous environmental consequences you'll have to excuse us if we question your virtue signalling here.
ian
Wow! Fortune smiling on Japan
deanzaZZR
Looks like an islet to me. No EEZ for you, Japan.
USNinJapan2
Bet those folks at the Ministry of Truth in Beijing are working feverishly on creating and aging an "historic" map that shows Minamitorishima with its accurate and original name of [insert random Chinese name] dating back to one day before the establishment of Japan as a nation...
USNinJapan2
deanzaZZR
You clearly know very little about this ISLAND and it's history.
TokyoOldMan
Japan will undoubtably improve upon the current deep sea mining to come up with something more environmentally friendly.
deanzaZZR
I'm simply applying the same legal logic that the Court of Arbitration that so many like to talk about here, wherein the court determined that none of the features of the SCS, including the largest island, China's Taiping Island, were not recognized as islands thus denying any EEZ benefit. The same logic applies to Minami Tori and the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands.
ian
While that may be true, that ruling cannot (I think) be universally applied as it was a ruling only by an ad hoc arbitration panel which incidentally wasn't even participated in by China so should apply only to the Philippines.
It was really strange that the Philippines' lawyers submitted that even their own islands are mere features in the scs
The Philippines actually lost islands in that award so absurd to call it a win
Mr Goodman
There's plenty of locations all along the Mariana trench with rare earth minerals that starts near izu /ogasawara etc
World unesco sites
Pukey2
China should be flattered they're on everyone's mind and living there rent-free.
TaiwanIsNotChina
It's a 1.4 billion pound gorilla. Everyone should watch everything it does.
Wesley
The fact that the first thing everyone thought of was china trying to steal it just goes to show that china has come to associate itself with theft, stealing and cheating.
happyhere
No it just goes to show most commentators on this site are Chinaphobic.
Btw, nickel is not a rare metal as the article claims, 4th most common on the planet. Cobalt is the rare one.
ian
Hilarious.
How much of the world do you think JT commentators consist of
ian
Wait I just remembered another thing.
In the other thread, I posted it was the USA's advice that's the reason for the Philippines loss of Scarborough shoal.
In my post above regarding the arbitration suit, the suit was lodged on the advice of the US also and the lawyers referred to in the quote below were American lawyers. I'm sure it was just an unfortunate series of coincidences.
ian
As mentioned before, the Philippines lost islands in that arbitration ruling.
TokyoLiving
Careful Japan..
Good old US want to steal a big part of that metals..
TaiwanIsNotChina
Well China will certainly discover maps for whatever they want to take.
Desert Tortoise
@Christopher, knowledge of these deposits has been public for years. I have posted about them right here on J-T many times