Japan pulls rare earths from Pacific seabed in drilling test

Move marks potential step to reduce reliance on China-centric supply chain

Japan has recovered rare earth elements critical to semiconductors, electric vehicles and defense applications from a deep-sea drilling test near Minamitori-shima, a remote Pacific island. (Photo by Ryoko Shimonoya)

TOKYO -- Japan has recovered rare-earth elements critical to semiconductors, electric vehicles and defense applications from a deep-sea drilling test, marking a potential step toward reducing its reliance on China-dominated supply chains.

BOLD.news retains normalized extraction for time-stamped evidence and analysis. This public wrapper shows a limited excerpt because availability is not a republication license; use the publisher link for the complete presentation.