Japan ‘rare earth’ haul sparks hopes of cutting China reliance 58 SHARES Share it! China extracted around 150,000 tons of rare earths in 2016, according to experts, but has in the past restricted the supply amid political tensions. Japanese firms are working on recycling products containing rare earths to re-use the elements, developing technology without rare earths and investing in foreign mining projects in exchange for the minerals. In addition to wanting to cut reliance on China, the price of rare earths is rising due to a Chinese crackdown on illegal mining and surging demand for electric vehicles. Japan will be able to say, ‘if prices are made to go above this level, we can look to developing sea-bottom rare earths’,” added the researcher.

Source: Manila Bulletin April 15, 2018 03:33 UTC