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Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that Washington and Tokyo are preparing what would be the deepest seabed mining operation yet attempted, aimed at loosening China's grip on critical minerals. No site or timetable has been made public.
Critical minerals are the raw materials behind batteries, electronics and defence hardware, and China controls much of their mining and processing. The United States, Japan and other industrial states have been working to build supply outside Chinese control, a contest that now reaches to the deep seabed.
Bloomberg reports that Washington and Tokyo are preparing what would be the deepest seabed mining operation attempted so far, aimed at challenging China's dominance in critical minerals. The report published on Wednesday gives no further detail on the site or the timetable.