Rare minerals discovered in Japan could be a game changer for their economic security.

A group of researchers in Japan uncovered a cache of rare minerals in the seabed around Minami-Tori-shima island harbours.

The Nippon Foundation and the University of Tokyo conducted a survey which discovered around 610,000 metric tons of cobalt and 740,000 metric tons of nickel.

Both cobalt and nickel are key materials for producing electric car batteries so this could do wonders for the Japanese economy.

Between April and June this year, researchers investigated 100 seabed sites, using probes to reach depths of 17,000 to 18,700 feet.

What they found were magnesium nodules which are packed with these valuable minerals.

Magnesium nodules are thought to have formed over millions of years.

The Nippon Foundation

Interestingly, experts believe that many of them developed around the fossilised teeth of the prehistoric Megalodon shark, which lived around 23 to 3.6 million years ago.

Now, the plan is to excavate ‘three million tons annually’ from the deposits, according to Yasuhiro Kato, a professor of resource geology at the University of Tokyo.

He claimed that this method would minimise the impact on the marine environment whilst several thousand tons of nodules daily.

But the jackpot win from the discovery was the mineral cornucopia which means big things

for Japan’s electric vehicle industry.

“Ultimately, we expect that our research outcomes will help boost Japan’s growth by establishing a domestic supply chain stretching from ‘resource-mining’ to ‘manufacturing’, and make Japan a science-technology, and ocean-oriented nation in a true sense of word,” the University of Tokyo wrote in a press release.

The Nippon Foundation

The team mentioned that they want to ‘collaborate with researchers of multiple disciplines’ in the future to develop more ‘environmentally-friendly products/technologies or new high-performance materials, by using various critical metals created from the new resources’.

Outside of Japan, the US has experienced its own modern-day gold rush in Wyoming.

A treasure trove of oxides of neodymium, praseodymium, samarium, dysprosium and terbium were all uncovered – all of which are widely used in today’s technology.

We’re talking smartphones, hybrid cars and aircrafts, as well as more common things like light bulbs and lamps.

The mining company behind the dig, American Rare Earths, said that this finding has ‘exceeded their wildest dreams.’

While China currently dominates global manufacturing with a 31% share, these new discoveries could reshape the landscape.

And other countries like Japan and the US have a shot at becoming major players in the resource market.

Incredibly rare minerals were discovered in the US and it could be the boost American industry needs to become a world leader.

The country has been trailing behind China, who has the world’s leading manufacturing industry, and an enormous 95% of all earth minerals come from China.

In fact, the States alone imports 74% of their minerals.

Over two billion tons of rare earth minerals were found (MARCUS YAM/LOS ANGELES TIMES/Getty)

While the US comes in second place on the international stage for their manufacturing, there is a big margin between the two countries.

China holds over 31% of global manufacturing, more than double the US’ share of just 15%.

But that could all change thanks to an incredible find that has ‘exceeded their wildest dreams,’ says American Rare Earths after the mining company hit the jackpot with land they drilled earlier this year.

The modern-day gold rush happened in Wyoming where different minerals including oxides of neodymium, praseodymium, samarium, dysprosium and terbium were uncovered.

The team have so far only drilled 25% of land in their project so there could be much more to discover.

The kinds of minerals found are widely used in technology such as smartphones, hybrid cars and aircrafts, as well as more common things like light bulbs and lamps.

The mining company hit the jackpot with their drilling in Wyoming (American Rare Earths)

Following a ban on extraction in December 2023, American Rare Earths has been working to break China’s record.

The company first started drilling in March 2023 and estimated 1.2 million metric tons of minerals in Wyoming.

And further drills have revealed way more – in fact, American Rare Earths have actually increased its yield by over two thirds.

Don Schwartz is CEO of the mining company and said: “These results are illustrative of the enormous potential of the project when the resource increased by 64 percent during a developmental drilling campaign, which increased measured/indicated resources by 128 percent.

“Typically, you’ll see the resource decrease as infill drilling takes place – instead, we’re seeing the opposite, with only 25% of the project being drilled to this point.”

But American Rare Earths aren’t the only ones in the running after Ramaco Resources revealed it had found a deposit of rare minerals near Sheridan in Wyoming, that could have a value of $37 billion.

There’s potentially even more minerals to uncover (American Rare Earths)

Speaking to Cowboy State Daily, Ramaco Resources CEO, Randall Atkins, said: “We only tested it for 100, 200 feet, which is about the maximum you’d ever want to do a conventional coal mine.

“Much deeper than that, and the cost would be prohibitive to mine for $15-a-ton coal. But there are seams that go down almost to 1,000 feet. So, we’re drilling down into the deeper levels to see what’s down there.”

Despite this, American Rare Earths has dismissed the estimate.

“Our resources is on an order of magnitude larger than the Ramaco Resources number,” said Schwartz.

“If you did the same thing for it, you’d come up with a lot bigger number, but that doesn’t take into account whether you can [mine and process] more economically, or even do it.”

Either way, it looks like the minerals could provide a huge boost to American industry and potentially be a game changer on a global scale. 

As technology like AI progresses and evolves in its capabilities, it’s easy to brush off what it can really mean with a quick “Skynet from Terminator is finally here” joke.

However, analysts are already concerned that such innovations, like the rise of AI agents, could upend the way we browse online forever by making the internet go dark.

As the boom of generative AI enters its third year, 2025 is said to be that of AI agents.

The name “AI agents” essentially does what the name implies and so much more.

As well as generally being able to interact with its users as personal assistants, AI agents are said to be capable of doing full research, assembling information, and even being able to put together content in anticipation of the user’s needs before even being asked.

While generative AI isn’t quite there yet, tech analysts like Bernstein’s Mark Shmulik and Nikhil Devnani can’t help but already address concerns towards a future that may be closer than we already thought.

Attendees at the Mobile World Congress 2025 (Getty Images)

They said: “If AI agents truly become useful, the internet will go dark.”

While the necessity of websites and apps won’t change, the existence of AI agents could mean that users will no longer interact with these directly.

Instead, their digital agents will act as digital aggregators, digging for information through multiple sources and assembling it on their behalf in a quicker time.

In fact, these AI assistants would be so efficient, they’d be more effectively referred to as “the aggregator of the aggregators”, as the analysts also put.

If such applications of AI technology gain traction in this way, “this. Changes. Everything”. They further stated. That’s because as time goes, the “aggregators get disaggregated, and much of consumer internet may be structural shorts.”

Various industries have been affected by AI, some less severely than others, but this change would make it so that, effectively, as the analysts say, “there’s nowhere to hide”.

On the other hand, there would be undoubted benefits from a consumer perspective.

For example, instead of manually comparing the prices of ridesharing services like Uber and Lyft to find a trip to the airport, an AI agent would make the customer journey far simpler by removing the need to Google anything — with digital assistants assessing all options and delivering the best choice in a matter of seconds.

Using the Uber ridesharing app (Getty Images)

As another insight from the Bernstein analysts put, however, this would mean that “The aggregators have control over the supply…”, meaning companies and their customers will be at the behest of their digital services.

Although we’re not quite at this point technologically just yet, well-known tech companies have already laid the groundwork with the unveiling of their own AI agent systems.

For example, OpenAI announced Operator that utilizes a web browser for making travel arrangements and buying products. Google, seemingly wanting to get a jump on the next stage of the AI boom, unveiled Project Mariner — their own AI agent that can perform feats for users like browsing the internet and filling out forms for users.

On the other hand, any technological predictions are always open to not panning out as originally thought. For all we know, Elon Musk’s Neuralink technology could succeed in the implementation of AI brain chips as the way forward.

As with anything when it comes to evolution in this type of industry, only time will tell.

Following the election, billionaire Elon Musk has been warning that the US economy is looming towards bankruptcy and urging President Donald Trump to consider Bitcoin as a solution to the country’s ever-increasing debt.

However, America might have just found a new path to financial strength after a discovery of incredibly rare materials was made in the country.

Right now, China leads the world in manufacturing, producing 95% of all rare earth minerals and holding over 31% of global manufacturing.

Meanwhile, the US relies on importing about 74% of its minerals and holds only a 15% share in global manufacturing.

But this gap could start to close thanks to a lucky find by American Rare Earths in Wyoming that hit the jackpot with the land they drilled earlier this year.

The team uncovered a treasure trove of rare minerals, including neodymium, praseodymium, samarium, dysprosium, and terbium.

So far, American Rare Earths have only drilled 25% of land in their project so there could be much more to discover.

MARCUS YAM/LOS ANGELES TIMES/Getty

The kinds of minerals found are widely used in technology such as smartphones, hybrid cars and aircrafts, as well as light bulbs and lamps.

Following a ban on extraction in December 2023, American Rare Earths has been working to break China’s record.

The company first started drilling in March 2023 and estimated 1.2 million metric tons of minerals in Wyoming.

In fact, American Rare Earths have actually increased its yield by over two thirds.

According to CEO Don Schwartz: “These results are illustrative of the enormous potential of the project when the resource increased by 64 percent during a developmental drilling campaign, which increased measured/indicated resources by 128 percent.

“Typically, you’ll see the resource decrease as infill drilling takes place – instead, we’re seeing the opposite, with only 25% of the project being drilled to this point.”

But American Rare Earths aren’t the only ones making discoveries in rare materials after Ramaco Resources came across a deposit of such near Sheridan in Wyoming, valued at around $37 billion.

American Rare Earths

Speaking to Cowboy State Daily, Ramaco Resources CEO, Randall Atkins, said: “We only tested it for 100, 200 feet, which is about the maximum you’d ever want to do a conventional coal mine.

“Much deeper than that, and the cost would be prohibitive to mine for $15-a-ton coal. But there are seams that go down almost to 1,000 feet. So, we’re drilling down into the deeper levels to see what’s down there.”

Despite this, American Rare Earths has dismissed the estimate.