The Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology and the University of Tokyo reported over the weekend the discovery of a large deposit of rare earths at the Minami Tori Shima Island on the easternmost part of the country. The deposit is reportedly 20 to 30 times more concentrated than rare earths deposits in China, which has the potential of breaking Beijing's monopoly of those types of resources.

In 2011, a similar rare earths discovery was reported by Japan located 3,500 to 6,000 metres below ocean surface with an estimated volume of 80 to 100 billion tonnes of rate earth, 10 times higher than the global estimate of 110 million tonnes

China controls more than 90 per cent of the global supply of rare earths used in the production of high-tech materials such as computers and mobile phones.

The new deposit discovery reportedly is 20,000 feet below the ocean's surface based on a survey made by the Japanese deep-sea vessel the Kairei. It estimated the volume at 6.8 million tonnes, enough to supply Tokyo's rare earth needs for the next two centuries.

It is the second major discovery in March 2013 for Japan after the Asian economic giant, which is reeling from the intensity 9 earthquake and tsunami that hit the country's Fukushima Province two years ago, said it has extracted natural gas from flammable ice or methane hydrate enough to provide for its domestic natural gas needs from 11 up to 100 years.

However, for Japan to benefit from the major find, it must come up with a cost-effective way of extracting the minerals.

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