Deep sea mud is rich in rare earth elements
A team of Japanese scientists have found large quantities of rare earth minerals on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
In a Nature Geoscience article published on Monday, the team said that it looked at 78 sites throughout the eastern South and central North Pacific ranging in depths of 3,500 to 6,000 metres.
“We estimate that an area of just one square kilometre, surrounding one of the sampling sites, could provide one-fifth of the current annual world consumption of these elements”