Japan finds multiple rare earth elements in deep-water mining in Pacific

TOKYO - A Japanese project to secure critical minerals from deep waters off Minamitori Island in the Pacific has identified multiple types of medium and heavy rare earth elements that are integral to high-tech products, a government-affiliated research institute said Friday.

Medium and heavy rare earth elements such as yttrium, gadolinium and dysprosium accounted for approximately 54 percent of the total extracted from mud samples, while light ones such as neodymium made up the remaining 46 percent.