TOKYO - Vast deposits of rare earth minerals have been discovered on the seabed of the Pacific Ocean amounting to 1,000 times those on land, media reported on Monday citing a study by Japanese researchers.

The deposits are estimated to amount to 100 billion tonnes, the Nikkei business daily said.

They are believed to lie at a depth of 3,500 to 6,000 metres and cover an area of over 11 million square metres, the reports said.

The study by researchers from the University of Tokyo and the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology is to be published on Monday in the online edition of the British  science magazine Nature Geoscience, the reports said.

Demand could pick up later in the year as Japan continues to recover from the March 11 earthquake.