This is the 'stash' we were alerted to when 45 went to Japan and did a deal with then PM Abe in 2019-pretty much told e'one they had a lot "off-shore" but were not very specific-well here it is and will start to be extracted and also E.O #13817signed Dec 20th 2017 and amended Sept 30th 2020-see below
Japan to begin extracting rare earth metals from seabed in 2024
Program a part of effort to wean the country off its reliance on Chinese imports. Aiming to reduce its reliance on China for rare earth metals, Japan will begin in 2024 to extract the essential materials for electric vehicles and hybrids from the mud on the deep sea bottom in an area off Minami-Torishima Island, a coral atoll in the Pacific Ocean about 1,900 kilometers southeast of Tokyo. Tokyo plans to begin work to develop extraction technologies starting next year. Mud rich in rare earth metals has been found on the seafloor at a depth of 6,000 meters in the target area. To get at it, Japan first needs to develop technologies to extract the resources from depths of 5,000-6,000 meters.
The kuroshio, or Japan Current, known to be among the world's fastest sea currents, passes the target area, which is also located in the path of typhoons. Experts say there are high technological hurdles for any endeavor to extract resources from deep-sea locations in such tough conditions. When extracting oil and natural gas from seafloor sites, the deposits are under strong pressure, which pushes the resources out once a hole drilled from the surface reaches them. However, mud containing rare earth metals does not have this advantage, so it requires some means to bring it up to the surface, such as pumping, for example. The Japanese Diet approved an allocation of 6 billion yen ($44 million) for the project in the second supplementary budget for fiscal 2022 recently approved in an extraordinary session. The money will be spent on the development of pumps and making pipe as long as 6,000 meters to be used in trial extraction. Research work to extract resources in the Minami-Torishima area is underway under the Cabinet Office's Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program. Researchers succeeded in pumping up deposits from a 2,470-meter-deep seabed in a period from August to September.
Rare earth is a blanket term referring to 17 rare metals. Japan currently relies on imports for nearly all its rare metal needs, including 60% from China. Chinese imports include neodymium, an essential material used in wind power generation, and dysprosium, used in electric vehicle motors.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Markets/Commodities/Japan-to-begin-extracting-rare-earth-metals-from-seabed-in-2024
Signed Executive Order 13817of December 20, 2017-amended Sept 30, 2020
Executive Order on Addressing the Threat to the Domestic Supply Chain from Reliance on Critical Minerals from Foreign Adversaries
https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-addressing-threat-domestic-supply-chain-reliance-critical-minerals-foreign-adversaries/
from Oct 2020
President Trump Signs Executive Order Expanding Rare Earths Mining
https://www.miningnewswire.com/president-trump-signs-executive-order-expanding-rare-earths-mining/