UPDATED 7:55 AM EST, January 16, 2013
Science, Technology, Energy & Mining Minister Philip Paulwell said Japanese researchers believe they have found "high concentrations of rare-earth elements" in the country's red mud, or bauxite residue.
China is now the world's main supplier of rare-earth elements, which are minerals that play a critical role in making products from basic communication devices to high-tech military weaponry. Worried by that dominance, manufacturers around the globe have been spurring searches for other sources that could be profitably mined.
