Konomai gold mine

The Konomai Mines (鴻之舞 鉱山, Kōnomai Kōzan) are located 30 km south of Monbetsu, Abashiri Subprefecture, Hokkaidō, Japan (44° 23' North : 143° 22' East). The initial discovery was in 1915 and from then until 1973, when the mine was closed, some 73 tons of gold and more than 1200 tons of silver were produced by the Sumitomo group. It was one of the richest gold mines in Japan and referred to as "the biggest goldmine in the Orient". At its peak in the 1940s, 13,000 miners, their families, and attendant merchants lived in the area.^[1]

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  Right: The monument of Konomai
  Left: The cenotaph for the victims of mining accidents

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  The chimney of the old refinery which is visible from Prefectural Route 305

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  Ruin of Konomai

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kōnomai.

• Toi Gold Museum
• Toi gold mine
• Japanese mining and energy resources (World War II)

References

Coordinates: 44°08′05″N 143°20′55″E / 44.13472°N 143.34861°E / 44.13472; 143.34861