Japan Finds Vast Reserves of Rare Earth Minerals That Could Be Used to Make Solar Panels and Other Electronics
by Brit Liggett, 07/05/11
Japan just announced that they’ve discovered a deposit of rare earth minerals off their coast in the Pacific Ocean that, if commercially viable, could change the worldwide market for the expensive materials. The deposit could yield as much as 80 to 100 billion tonnes of rare earth minerals and though Japan isn’t being specific about which materials they’ve found there, it is likely to contain gold and copper. China currently holds an estimated 97% of the world’s stores of rare earth minerals, which are used in many high tech gadgets like solar panels, cell phones, television sets and vehicles. Will Japan’s find change all of that?
Just so long as they don’t find any sakuradite. ^_^
Read the rest at inhabitat.com.
Am I right? Anime geeks, back me up on this! ^_^
