Utilization of Mineral Resources

Here you can see the types of mineral resources and their distribution. The world's major mines of mineral resources are shown in the world maps. There is a significant unevenness in their distribution. Many mines were also developed in Japan, but most of them are now closed because the size of their mineral deposits were not big enough. The graph on the right shows changes in the self-sufficiency rates of Japanese mineral resources. You will see that Japan depends on imports for most of its mineral resources.