Large deposits of rare earth metals — difficult-to-mine materials that are needed in many personal, commercial, and military electronics — have been discovered in Japan, possibly chipping away at China's near monopoly on the elements. The Telegraph reports that the newly found metals are in higher than usual concentrations and will be cheap to mine. Researchers in Japan discovered the deposits off of the country's Pacific coast, and intend to explore for another two years before scaling up extraction of the elements from the seabed. China wants to force companies to stay within its borders Around 95 percent of the world's rare earth element supply is controlled by China, which has previously ceased production to further raise the... Continue reading…
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