The Potential and Challenges of Rare Earth Mining at Minamitorishima: Can It Strengthen Japan's Economic Security?

China has been tightening its restrictions on rare earth exports, leading to widespread impacts such as temporary suspensions of automobile production in Japan, Europe, and the United States. While countries are working to secure alternative sources of rare earths outside China, growing attention has turned to Japan’s easternmost territory, Minamitorishima, and its potential for rare earth mining. Can extraction at a remote island located far from the mainland, at depths of 6,000 meters beneath the seabed, succeed? To what extent could it contribute to reducing dependence on China? This paper examines the challenges and prospects for commercialization of rare earth mining in the Minamitorishima area.

By OPRI Perspectives