The was a rich source of

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pink ...

in Niihama,

Ehime Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Ehime Prefecture has a population of 1,342,011 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 5,676 km2 (2,191 sq mi). Ehime Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the northeast, T ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. The deposits were discovered in 1690, and copper mining began in the following year. From then until the closing of the mine in 1973, Besshi produced about 700,000 tons of copper, and contributed to Japan's trade and modernization. The

Sumitomo The is one of the largest Japanese ''keiretsu'', or business groups, founded by Masatomo Sumitomo (1585-1652) around 1615 during the early Edo period. History The Sumitomo Group traces its roots to a bookshop in Kyoto founded circa 1615 by Mas ...

family managed the mine, which helped build the Sumitomo '' zaibatsu.'' The Dōzan River was named after the copper mine. The Minetopia Besshi theme park uses some of the mine's facilities.

External links

Besshi Dōzan
(Niihama official web site)

( Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport) Copper mines in Japan Buildings and structures in Ehime Prefecture Sumitomo Heavy Industries Niihama, Ehime Former mines in Japan 1973 disestablishments in Japan {{ehime-geo-stub