China Hunts for Uranium from the Sea, Reserves Reach 4.5 Billion Tons

JAKARTA - China has begun to tap the potential of strategic minerals stored in seawater. The focus is not a joke, namely uranium, lithium, deuterium, and other trace elements needed for the energy and technology industries.

Based on a report by the Chinese Ministry of Natural Resources quoted by Xinhua, Tuesday, June 9, the country recorded new progress in the use of seawater, including direct uranium extraction from the marine environment.

China is said to have successfully extracted uranium from the deep sea on a kilogram scale. A number of research institutions, universities, and companies have also reported breakthroughs in the basic theory and key technologies for extracting lithium, uranium, deuterium, and other trace elements from seawater.

Deuterium is a hydrogen isotope used in a number of energy technologies and scientific research.

The potential is huge. Global reserves of uranium in seawater are estimated at around 4.5 billion tons. This amount is more than a thousand times the known reserves of uranium on land.

In addition to strategic minerals, China is also strengthening the desalination industry, which is the process of converting seawater into fresh water.

Director of the Institute of Desalination and Multipurpose Utilization of Sea Water in Tianjin, Xiang Wenxi, said China currently has 167 desalination projects with a total capacity of 3.077 million tons per day.

The use of seawater for industrial cooling also increased sharply. The volume reached 193.36 billion tons per year, up 86.4 percent compared to 2020.

According to Xiang, China will push for the update of related technology and equipment during the 15th Five-Year Plan period from 2026 to 2030.

China will also build a technology reserve to extract strategic elements from seawater, Xiang said, as reported by Xinhua.

This step shows China's efforts to expand important mineral sources outside of land mines. As the need for raw materials for energy and technology continues to increase, seawater is starting to count as a new supply source.