Japan has agreed to help Mongolia make mines to get rare earth metals. "Mongolia has high potential in mineral material development and this will serve the two countries' national interests,"as said by Kan.Officials said Batbold said Mongolia will be able to produce value-added products by using highly advanced Japanese technology. Rare earth metals from China suddenly dried up last month while Japan and China were in a fighting over the arrest of a Chinese fishing boat captain whose trawler collided with a Japanase Coast Guard near the Senkaku Islands, which are controlled by Japan but is claimed by China and Taiwan. Rare earth metals are a class of 17 elements which includes neodymium, dysprosium and cerium which are used to produce high-tech products ranging from cell phones and digital cameras to flat-panel TVs and hybrid cars. China accounts for about 97 percent of the world's supply of rare metals and Japan is almost 90 percent dependent on China to get them, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
How i feel-
I think its cool we are getting rare metals! We just have to make sure we are careful so that miners won't get stuck like in Chile. The metals will be very useful and it will be cool to get new technology. I hope this won't start something like a war between china and japan. It will be exciting to see what they come up with
You are right on target connecting this article with what happened in Chile. I too hope that when they do start to mine that they consider safety as a priority!
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