Japan to Increase Higher F2008 Budget to Secure Rare Metal

Japanese government will increase the budget by 18.6% year-on-year to 11.57 billion yen for Mineral & Natural Resources Division of Resources & Energy Agency under Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) for fiscal 2008 starting April along the draft budget announced by Ministry of Finance on 20 December. The budget will be expanded especially for stable procurement of rare metals.METI’s budget will be increased by 29.4% year-on-year to 7 billion yen for exploration development and by 43.9% to 4.2 billion yen for rare metal related measures in fiscal 2008. The budget will be also increased for rare metal reserves. The government will budget 1 billion yen for development of substitution materials for rare metals in fiscal 2008. Geologic surveying at overseas will be planned as well.The agency will invest 10 billion yen additionally for Japan Oil, Gas & Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC), 1.2 billion yen of which is for exploration funds and the rest for debt guarantee of overseas exploration. Through these investments, Japanese government aims stable procurement of rare metals in future.