JAPAN plans to deploy unmanned probes to scour the sea-floor around the resource-poor island nation for mineral deposits, a government-backed scientific organisation said on Thursday. Tw
o underwater robots tethered to a ship would explore the seabed for rare metals, said an official of the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (Jamstec), which is set to start the project in fiscal year 2010. Researchers hope to discover minerals such as manganese, cobalt, lead and zinc used in Japanese products from cars to the batteries in IT gadgets. Jamstec, a government-linked agency that specialises in environmental research and marine technology, plans to invest four billion yen (S$61 million) in the probes, the official said. The move comes as Japan, the world's second-biggest economy, tries to break away from its dependence on foreign imports of raw materials and energy. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is trying to secure stable supplies of rare metals amid growing demand from emerging economies that has sparked worries over a supply crunch. 'It is extremely important to ensure stable supplies of rare metals from the standpoint of maintaining and strengthening the competitiveness of Japan's manufacturing industry,' the ministry said in a strategy published last week.
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o underwater robots tethered to a ship would explore the seabed for rare metals, said an official of the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (Jamstec), which is set to start the project in fiscal year 2010. Researchers hope to discover minerals such as manganese, cobalt, lead and zinc used in Japanese products from cars to the batteries in IT gadgets. Jamstec, a government-linked agency that specialises in environmental research and marine technology, plans to invest four billion yen (S$61 million) in the probes, the official said. The move comes as Japan, the world's second-biggest economy, tries to break away from its dependence on foreign imports of raw materials and energy. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is trying to secure stable supplies of rare metals amid growing demand from emerging economies that has sparked worries over a supply crunch. 'It is extremely important to ensure stable supplies of rare metals from the standpoint of maintaining and strengthening the competitiveness of Japan's manufacturing industry,' the ministry said in a strategy published last week.For further details visit as : http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Tech%2Band%2BScience/Story/STIStory_413380.html
