Japanese researchers say they have discovered an area with mineral concentrations called “manganese nodules” in waters off Japan’s eastern-most island in the Pacific Ocean.
The University of Tokyo and the Nippon Foundation made the announcement at a news conference on Friday in Tokyo.
They said a research team surveyed more than 100 locations at a depth of 5,500 meters in Japan’s exclusive economic zone off Minamitorishima Island from April through June.
The team discovered an area with manganese nodules covering the seabed. It estimates about 230 million tons of manganese nodules are present in a condition easy to extract as resources.
The analysis of the nodules showed they are mainly composed of iron and manganese, and also contain cobalt and nickel, which are used in batteries for electric vehicles.
The team estimates the amount of cobalt at about 610,000 tons, equivalent to 75 years of Japan’s annual consumption, and nickel at some 740,000 tons, worth about 11 years.
The university and the foundation announced a plan to launch a large-scale test project to harvest the nodules in cooperation with an overseas firm that has a record of undersea resource development.
They say the experiment will start from as early as next year. They plan to harvest about 2,500 tons of manganese nodules per day at the overall cost of 7 to 8 billion yen, or about 44 to 50 million dollars.
They also say this will be the first time that such a large-scale project will be launched in Japan. If it succeeds, it would give momentum to the use of undersea mineral resources surrounding Japan.
Kato Yasuhiro, University of Tokyo Professor and the director of Chiba Institute of Technology’s Ocean Resources Research Center for Next Generation, said he wants to make sure the project will not put a burden on the ocean environment, while presenting data that will be convincing.