{"id":176184,"date":"2026-02-25T17:03:05","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T08:03:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/?post_type=news&#038;p=176184&#038;lang=en"},"modified":"2026-02-25T17:03:05","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T08:03:05","slug":"mitsui-mining-smelting-to-build-rare-earth-research-hub-in-omuta","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/news\/mitsui-mining-smelting-to-build-rare-earth-research-hub-in-omuta\/","title":{"rendered":"Mitsui Mining &#038; Smelting to Build Rare Earth Research Hub in Omuta"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Mitsui Mining &#038; Smelting Co., Ltd. (Tokyo), a nonferrous metals manufacturer, will establish a new organization, the \u201cKyushu Advanced Materials Development Center,\u201d to conduct research and development of advanced materials, primarily for semiconductor applications. The company will invest \u00a510 billion to construct a new building on the premises of its Rare Materials Division in Omuta City, Fukuoka Prefecture, with completion targeted for fiscal 2028. As the Japanese government moves to recover rare earth\u2013containing mud from the seabed near Minamitorishima (Marcus Island), Mitsui Mining &#038; Smelting is also considering refining rare earth mud at the new facility. Through this initiative, the company aims to strengthen a domestic supply chain for rare earths, for which Japan currently maintains a high level of dependence on China. <strong>Source:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fiba.jp\/\" target=\"_blank\">FIBA<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/fnn_metal-materials_2026_cl.jpg?resize=934%2C800&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"934\" height=\"800\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-176185\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/fnn_metal-materials_2026_cl.jpg?w=934&amp;ssl=1 934w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/fnn_metal-materials_2026_cl.jpg?resize=300%2C257&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/fnn_metal-materials_2026_cl.jpg?resize=768%2C658&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 934px) 100vw, 934px\" \/><br \/>\nPhoto: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mitsui-kinzoku.co.jp\/group\/rare-material\/products\/\" target=\"_blank\">Mitsui Mining &#038; Smelting<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Stay informed with the latest Fukuoka &#038; Kyushu news and events in English. Sign up for our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/mailmagazine\/\">free weekly newsletter<\/a> today and never miss a beat. Opt out anytime, your privacy is our priority. Get the inside scoop with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/mailmagazine\/\">The Now<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Summaries based on public content, errors may occur during translation. Images credited independently. Send feedback using <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/contact\/\">this <strong>form<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mitsui Mining &#038; Smelting Co., Ltd. (Tokyo), a nonferrous metals manufacturer, will establish a new organization, the \u201cKyushu&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30292,"featured_media":176185,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[],"class_list":["post-176184","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","location-fukuoka-prefecture","news-category-business","en-US"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/176184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30292"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176184"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}