Action News

Rare Earth Minerals Found Near Hawaii

actionnews — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 16:23:46 +0000

Rare Earth Minerals Found Near Hawaii – A vast treasure trove of valuable rare earth minerals used in high-tech manufacturing has been found on the Pacific Ocean floor off Hawaii.

“The deposits have a heavy concentration of rare earths. Just one square kilometer (0.4 square mile) of deposits will be able to provide one-fifth of the current global annual consumption,” said Yasuhiro Kato, an associate professor of earth science at the University of Tokyo.

Kato said the sea mud was especially rich in heavier rare earths such as gadolinium, lutetium, terbium and dysprosium.

“These are used to manufacture flat-screen TVs, LED (light-emitting diode) valves, and hybrid cars,” he said.

Extracting the deposits requires pumping up material from the ocean floor. “Sea mud can be brought up to ships and we can extract rare earths right there using simple acid leaching,” he said.

“Using diluted acid, the process is fast, and within a few hours we can extract 80-90 percent of rare earths from the mud.”

The discovery was made by a team led by Kato and including researchers from the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology.

They found the minerals in sea mud extracted from depths of 11,500-20,000 feet below the ocean surface at 78 locations. One-third of the sites yielded rich contents of rare earths and the metal yttrium, Kato said in a telephone interview.

The deposits are in international waters in an area stretching east and west of Hawaii, as well as east of Tahiti in French Polynesia, he said.

Kato estimated rare earths contained in the deposits amounted to 80 to 100 billion tons, compared to global reserves currently confirmed by the U.S. Geological Survey of just 110 million tons.

Details of the discovery were published in the online version of British journal Nature Geoscience.

And that’s the latest news update on Rare Earth Minerals Found Near Hawaii.

Gibson Plea Deal

Diosdado — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 19:51:42 +0000

Gibson Plea Deal – A Mel Gibson plea deal is made just before his hearing is to be held.

According to sources regarding the Gibson plea deal in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, the actor will not be serving time in jail if the accepts the plea.

The Mel Gibson plea stems from a case filed against the actor by her ex-girlfriend over a domestic dispute.

Mel Gibson will instead plea a no contest on simple battery instead of corporal injury on a spouse.

According to other sources in the Gibson family, the actor could have easily won the case but is considering the strain on the family which forced him to enter a deal.

According to Gibson’s attorney, “I know from almost 20 years as a criminal defense lawyer that sometimes justice can come for a client at too high a personal price. That is particularly so for Mel, whose right to due process can only be exercised in this case with an enormous media circus attached.”

“It is with only that in mind that he asked me to approach the District Attorney with a proposal that would bring all of this to an immediate end.”

Oksana Grigorieva, Gibson’s former girlfriend and with which he is in dispute with in the case only replied that she trusts the decision of the District Attorney’s Office regarding the matter.

Keep posted on any interesting developments concerning the Gibson plea deal

Gibson Plea Deal – A Mel Gibson plea deal is made just before his hearing is to be held.

According to sources regarding the Gibson plea deal in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, the actor will not be serving time in jail if the accepts the plea.

The Mel Gibson plea stems from a case filed against the actor by her ex-girlfriend over a domestic dispute.

Mel Gibson will instead plea a no contest on simple battery instead of corporal injury on a spouse.

According to other sources in the Gibson family, the actor could have easily won the case but is considering the strain on the family which forced him to enter a deal.

According to Gibson’s attorney, "I know from almost 20 years as a criminal defense lawyer that sometimes justice can come for a client at too high a personal price. That is particularly so for Mel, whose right to due process can only be exercised in this case with an enormous media circus attached."

"It is with only that in mind that 

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