00:41 Researchers Find Vast Reserve of Rare Earth Minerals Off Japan Researchers in Japan say they’ve found massive reserves of rare earth minerals that are used in high-tech devices.

At a Glance Researchers have found a massive seabed containing rare earth minerals in the waters off Japan's coast.

More than 16 million tons of the minerals were found and researchers say they could supply the globe on a "semi-finite" basis.

Lurking in the waters off Japan's coast is a trove of rare earth minerals that could be a game changer for the country's economy.

More than 16 million tons of rare earth metals were discovered in a 965-square-mile seabed near Minami-Tori-shima Island in the Pacific Ocean, about 1,150 miles from Tokyo, according to a recent study.

Rare earth minerals are a series of 17 chemical elements that are relatively abundant in the crust of the Earth, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. However, it's uncommon to find a concentration of them that's large enough to mine for economic benefit.

The minerals in the seabed are used across a range of high-tech devices, such as smartphones, hybrid cars and radar devices. Scientists say they found enough to supply the world on a “semi-infinite” basis , CNBC reports.

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One of the elements, yttrium, is abundant enough to last 780 years, according to the study. It is added to camera lenses to make them resistant to shock and heat and is used when making microwave filters for radars.

Despite the many potential uses for the minerals, harvesting them from the seabed is a costly process.

“We also showed the potential for reducing mining costs, which will allow us to move forward toward rare earth resource development on a commercial basis ," study lead author and University of Tokyo professor Yasuhiro Kato told The Asahi Shimbun.

The researchers say they have developed a strategy to make the minerals' concentration 2.6 times higher, which could reduce the volume of mud released from the seabed and lower mining costs.

China owns roughly 95 percent of the world's rare earth minerals as of 2015, but this new supply would give Japan more economic standing in the field, CNN reports.

Japan is currently the second-largest consumer of the minerals in the world and relies on China for imports, according to The Business Times. In the past, political tensions prompted the county to place restrictions on its supply. The newly-discovered seabed could help Japan free itself from depending on China's supply.

James Cook University professor and geologist Carl Spandler, who was not involved with the study, told The New Daily that the value of the elements would be "in the billions of dollars" if they can be successfully mined.