Good as gold?

JAPAN: A team of Japanese scientists has found large deposits of rare-earth elements in the Pacific Ocean. The discovery could be good news for the economy, but bad for the environment. 

There are 17 so-called rare-earth elements, or REEs. Despite the name, the metals are not extremely rare, but they are difficult to extract from the minerals that contain them. The REEs include samarium, terbium and neodymium. They are needed to produce most electronic devices and other high-tech products, including lasers, semiconductors, flat-screen TVs and tablet computers.

Led by Yasuhiro Kato, associate professor of earth sciences at the University of Tokyo, the team found mineral deposits in 78 locations. The total amount is estimated to be up to 100 billion tons. "The deposits have a heavy concentration of the rare earths," Kato told the BBC. "Just one square kilometre of deposits will be able to provide one fifth of the global current annual consumption." 

The discovery could reduce worries about China's dominance of the rare-earths market. At present, more than 95 per cent of rare-earth deposits are under Chinese control. The Canadian mining company Nautilus Minerals, which has long had an interest in undersea mining, has the first licence to begin exploration.

At present, more than 95 per cent of rare-earth deposits are under Chinese control.

But plans to extract rare earths from the ocean floor have alarmed environmentalists, who worry that mining activities could disturb or destroy sea life.