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Mines/Japan

Iwami Ginzan silver mine

Iwami Ginzan silver mine, Japan. Heritage site, underground, mining silver, copper.

Why Iwami Ginzan silver mine is famous

Silver seams were found in 1526 and the cupellation smelting method arrived around 1533, which sharply raised output. The Tokugawa took control in 1600, output peaked in the 1620s to 1640s and up to 10,000 people worked there in the early 17th century. Shafts were closed as water drainage got costly (247 of 279 idle by 1823) and the mine shut in 1923 after cheap copper imports. A 1942 attempt to reopen failed after a typhoon in 1943.1,2

Story cards

Iwami Ginzan silver mine today

Where silver is mined todayWhere copper is mined todayMining in Japan

Where next

Mines

ExamplesBesshi copper mineJapan's mines: Besshi copper opened in 1691, Iwami Ginzan silver was found in 1526.3

Places

Located inIwami GinzanIwami Ginzan silver mine sits at Iwami Ginzan.1

Trade routes

Shipped throughJapanese silver to ChinaJapan was China's main silver source in the second half of the 16th century.4

Sources

  1. Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine (Japan), evaluation No 1246 UNESCO World Heritage Centre / ICOMOS advisory body evaluation
  2. Wikidata item Q174139 (Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine) Wikidata (CC0)
  3. Wikidata item Q994193 (Besshi copper mine) Wikidata (CC0)
  4. Glasinovic Vernon J.P., Revisiting the Manila Galleon, a Chilean Perspective from the XXI Century Latin American Journal of Trade Policy 3 (Universidad de Chile)

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Pictures: Potosi, Bolivia, NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (Public domain (NASA media, no copyright)); Falu gruva, Lundberg, Bengt A / Europeana (CC0 1.0).