半導体・エレクトロニクス

日本が画期的な深海レアアース採掘ミッションに着手 - 技術と産業の戦略的転換へ

Japan has embarked on a historic scientific and industrial mission to extract rare earth elements from the deep seabed, marking a bold step in securing critical materials vital to modern technology. The deep-sea research vessel Chikyu departed Shimizu Port today, bound for waters near Minamitori Island, over 1,900 km southeast of Tokyo, initiating what could become the world’s first sustained attempt to mine rare-earth-rich mud from roughly 6,000 meters below the ocean surface. The month-long expedition, backed by Japan’s government and executed by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), aims to collect samples of seabed mud containing elements such as neodymium, dysprosium, and terbium — essential for electric vehicles, wind turbines, smartphones, data storage devices, and advanced defense systems. If this initial test proves successful, a full-scale…