The asteroid Ryugu is an echo from the deep, distant past. Two tiny grains of the rock, delivered to Earth in 2020 by the famous Hayabusa2 mission, contain minerals older than any found on our planet.
Now dubbed "New Kazakhstan," the deposit is said to have almost 1 million tonnes of cerium, lanthanum, neodymium and yttrium, elements used as components in devices such as smartphones, digital cameras and computer hard disks.
There is just one specimen of mineral known as Kyawthuite crystal, in the world.
