
A massive, 'semi-infinite' trove of rare-earth metals has been found in Japan - tosh
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/12/japan-rare-earths-huge-deposit-of-metals-found-in-pacific.html
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dang
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16814298](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16814298)

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nontechdude1
I could not use the term "semi-infinite" in my real analysis class and get
away with it

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debt
I hope "semi-infinite" sees wider adoption in our lexicon.

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toomuchtodo
I’m partial to “infinite enough”.

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vidanay
I've always gone with "for really small values of infinite"

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jacquesm
They state 100s of years of supply but that is at present day levels of
consumption, such a find and subsequent exploitation will cause a drop in
price and then more consumption will take place.

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m-watson
I don't know if the exploitation will be fast enough to make a huge
difference, at least for the time being. It being so difficult to get to it
gives other leading countries, namely China, to re-think their exploitation
and sale of these materials. They could find a way to stabilize the supply
side market with this extra time. Especially since so much of the
manufacturing using these materials is done in their country. Still though, I
agree this new supply should change buying and manufacturing behavior.

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hownottowrite
Ref: The original study published in Nature

"The tremendous potential of deep-sea mud as a source of rare-earth elements"
[https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-23948-5](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-23948-5)

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baron816
Accessibility is always the problem. The Earth has a semi-infinite supply of
energy, but accessing it in a usable and economical way is where the challenge
lies.

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delbel
There's massive amount of rare-earth metals in California and in my area in
Oregon. But mining regulations force companies to buy from third world
countries that don't have environmental, labor, and safety regulations because
it has been effectively banned by regulation. We should have safe,
environmental friendly, and living wage mining jobs here instead of this.

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kevmo
This weakens China's hand in the ongoing trade wars (as they are currently the
primary supplier of these rare metals).

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hangonhn
By the time Japan is able to extract and use that supply the trade war with
China would be long over or one would hope so. The supply is several
kilometers down. One would have to build a rig and then find a way to
efficiently pump that material back up in large enough quantities for
commercial usage (i.e. cheap enough to compete with China's supply)

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mkempe
How long do you think it took for the commercial development of North Sea oil
rigs?

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rusanu
Mining from the sea floor... Did any submarine sunk nearby?

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Azorian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Azorian)

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Maybestring
semi-infinite: A ~60 year global annual supply

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mkempe
Indeed. Which _in practical, commercial terms_ is semi-infinite, since
commercial mining does not involve a never-ending search for additional
potential sources of material, _only the mid- to long-term sufficient
exploration and development of economically feasible sources._ Where mid-term
could mean approximately one human generation, and long-term a human lifetime.

Another example of such long-range planning in commercial ventures is the
lumber business in North America and Scandinavia (that I know of),
deliberately and systematically re-generating forests for continued harvesting
while keeping their sight on a 80-100 year horizon.

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kaikai
I wonder how much of this is due to just looking for it. From the article they
were forced to seek other sources after a trade dispute, and were able to find
plenty on the seafloor. Is that luck, or an indication of how readily
available these metals are on the sea floor?

I know other companies/countries are looking for sea floor deposits, but I
don't think we've reached the point where it makes economic sense to mine
there yet.

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mal808
Fuck sake! "semi-infinite"? Seriously?

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bayindirh
The headline reminds me of similar discoveries which happen in Master of Orion
series and announced by GNN (Galactic News Network).

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ttul
Also, much of the rare earths are not that useful. How much of this muck is
actually the valuable stuff?

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TallGuyShort
Don't know enough about the metals involved to answer, but usefulness is often
a function of availability. They may be usable, but there may be more readily
available alternatives that have been good enough. If this supply makes new
materials even more available, it could still change things.

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hitsurume
This is how Japan will be able to build their first Gundam

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FLUX-YOU
5-6km? Perdido Oil rig drills at 3km. That's going to be quite a leap.

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mkempe
In the last few centuries, all developments of technology and the economy have
repeatedly involved "quite a leap". I find it both intriguing and exciting.

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NetOpWibby
If Japan finds a way to get to it, they’ll be super wealthy.

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swrobel
As opposed to how they are now?

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NetOpWibby
Well, even _more_ wealthy.

