Japan by the Japanese/Chapter 20.1

The geological formation of the Japanese islands may be described briefly as follows: In the sedimentary formations those belonging to the Archæan are gneiss and crystalline schist systems, which are distributed over about 3.78 per cent. of the total area; those belonging to the Palæozoic are the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous systems, forming about 7.95 per cent.; and those belonging to the Kainozoic are the Tertiary and Quaternary rocks, forming 45.84 per cent., or nearly one-half of the total area. In the igneous rocks, those belonging to the older periods are granite, quartz, diorite, gabbro, diabase, porphyry, and porphyrite, which cover 11.27 per cent. The eruption of granite is especially prominent in the formation. Those belonging to the younger periods are andesite basalt, and liparite, which form 20.92 per cent.

Nothing accurately is known of the origin of the Japanese mining industry, but it is a matter of record that as early as the seventh and eighth centuries gold, silver, copper, iron, coal, and petroleum were produced.

During the fifteenth century many mines were opened, but the workings were carried on on a small scale, and attracted little attention. The tools consisted of a hammer and a small wedge. A drift was generally driven on a mountain-side or in a valley, and the ores were mined from outcrops and along the vein. So narrow and winding were the mine roads that workmen going single file walked with difficulty. Small timber supports were used to sustain the roof and sides, while in lieu of ladders were upright timbers serrated to facilitate climbing. Under such conditions, the ventilation and drainage were so bad as frequently to extinguish the lights, but so little did the miners appreciate the danger, that they were ​accustomed to continue work in perfect darkness. These men rarely lived to reach five-and-twenty years of age.

Because of the difficulties of transportation through these narrow passages little children were employed in carrying ore from the mines in small baskets.

Gutters were cut on either side of the mine roads to carry off the natural flow of water, and bamboo or other wooden pumps and pipes were sometimes employed to clear the lower depths. A severe influx of water generally resulted in the permanent abandonment of the shaft, yet under all these disadvantages and dangers the sturdy workers frequently penetrated to a depth of 1,000 feet, and extended their operations over an area of several miles.

Milling was carried on by women and old men, who broke the ore and picked by hand. The selected ores of gold, silver, copper, or lead were put into a stone furnace and calcined with fuel. The calcined ore next was placed in a U-shaped furnace made in the ground, and melted by the bellows system. In the case of gold and silver ores a proper quantity of lead was added and argentiferous lead was formed, which was separated by smelting in another furnace. Copper was generally first roasted, and then the calcined ore put into a furnace for fusion over a charcoal fire. When the ore was melted down, the slag was removed and the molten matter cooled by the application of water, or directly subjected to desilverization by a process known as mabuki. The matter produced by the latter process was again calcined, and then removed to a hearth furnace and melted. If there was still any slag left the molten ‘matter’ was allowed to settle, and if found free from impurities, this was called ‘black copper.’

As may be imagined, the inefficiency of these methods occasioned a large proportion of waste. This débris is now frequently reclaimed and reduced at a profit.

In 1867, during the last few days of the Shogunate Government, an Englishman named Erasmus Gower introduced into the country the use of explosives in mining, and at about the same period an American named Pumpelly used an explosive in a lead mine in Hokkaido. In the first year of the Restoration (1868) Kauso Nabeshima, feudal lord of Saga, in conjunction with an Englishman named Glover, sunk the first European shaft in Sakashima.

With the new order of things the Imperial Government took over the mining business, and placed the Sado, Ikuno, Muoi, Aui, Kosaka, Kamaisha, and Okuya metal mines, as well as the Sakashima and Miike collieries, under its direct control. Foreign managers were employed, foreign systems were adopted in mining, smelting, and transportation, and at the same time ​(1871) an engineering school was established for instruction in mining and metallurgy. The immediate result was a remarkable and permanent advance in these branches of scientific knowledge. Having accomplished its object, the Government began releasing its mines, to be worked under private ownership, and these private owners, now backed by adequate experience and scientific knowledge, proceeded further to perfect the system and to expand the field of action.

Minerals and mineral ores as recognised by Japanese mining law are as follows:

Gold (sand gold excluded), silver, copper, lead, tin (sand tin excluded), hematite, antimony, quicksilver, zinc, iron (sand iron excluded), manganese and arsenic, plumbago, coals, kerosene, sulphur, bismuth, phosphorus, peat, and asphalt.

Since 1900 foreigners have been able legally to hold mining concessions in Japan, provided they work under Japanese laws. In the matter of trial boring, the right of priority of discovery is not recognised, this right being granted to the one who has first applied for it. The reasons given for this are, first, the difficulty of proving an alleged discovery, and, second, the belief that an accidental discovery should not be regarded as a claim for special privilege. The concessionaire of rights of trial boring is admirably protected by Government, but the period is only one year, to be extended for another year when considered right and necessary by the authorities. Further, the right of trial boring may not be transferred to a third person, nor given as security in any way.

Permanent boring rights are now not limited as to time, and the concessionaire is free to deal with his equity in the usual ways. The scope of a concession has been limited to a minimum of 10,000 tsubo and a maximum of 600,000 tsubo for coal and 3,000 tsubo to 600,000 tsubo for other minerals.

These arbitrary limitations have been fixed in order to prevent the appearance of too large a number of small concessions, or of a limited number of overlaw concessions on the other hand. But under certain conditions, the combination of two or more concessions is permitted to exceed the maximum of 600,000 tsubo.

Each concessionaire must submit for the approval of the chief of the Mining Inspection Office in whose jurisdiction the consession is situated the working plan upon which he has decided. The Minister of Agriculture and Commerce may revoke a concession upon which work is suspended, and he also requires a semi-annual plan of the existing condition of the mine; his approval must be gained where concessions are to be amalgamated or split up, and if it be discovered that the location and shape of a concession differs from that shown in ​the plan submitted, the Minister may order the concession marked out anew, under penalty of cancellation of rights.

The right of priority does not vest in the owner of land on which a discovery of minerals is made. The owner of land cannot refuse to lease to a concessionaire such surface rights as are requisite for the undertaking, but he is granted suitable rent and damages, and may demand security for his rent. Further, the owner of land may force the concessionaire to purchase land which he has used for mining purposes for not less than three years.

Subject to the supervision of the Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, the divisional chiefs of the Mining Inspection Offices have large measure of control in matters affecting the safety of architectural construction both in the mines and in connection with mining, in the protection of the life and health of workmen, and in the protection of the surface of land and of public interests affected by mining.

Strict control also is exercised over the use of explosives, ventilation, construction of chimneys and boilers, provisions against accidents, etc.

The taxes on mining, after passing through various phases, have lately been fixed at 30 sen per 1,000 tsubo on the lease, and, iron excepted, 1 per cent. of the value of the output. The value of the product is determined by the principal market quotations, or, failing that, by the actual sale price.

Sand ore diggings are distinguished by the law from other kinds of ore, in this case the right of priority being granted to the landowner. No foreigner is allowed to hold an interest in this industry, either as a private individual or as a member of a company.

Of mining concessions there were 5,866 in 1901, while 6,862 trial-boring rights were in course of investigation. The chief exports from the mines are coal, from which, in 1901, the amount sent to foreign countries brought in £1,750,000; and copper, which realized £1,390,000 in the same year.

With the growing demand for copper, this metal, of which Japan has unknown quantities, is to be regarded as one of the great national assets. The richest known copper mine in Japan is the ‘Innai,’ which consists, in the sedimentary rocks, of the Tertiary and Diluvial strata, and in the igneous rocks, of porphyrite, vitro andesite, and pyropene andesite. The veins are embedded in the porphyrite. The principal veins are the Motoli, Astumili, Usumili, and Gorojoli, which are branched off from the Houhi. This latter is from 2 to 18 feet. The Ashio copper mine and its vicinity are formed of the Palæozoic strata, penetrated by a series of liparite, in which latter are found the veins, some thirty or more in number, ​striking out from south-west to north-east, and from east to west. The widths of the three principal veins are 33.20 feet and 6 feet respectively.

The Besshi mine contains a vein occurring in the schistic strata, which averages 10 to 20 feet. The ore is copper pyrite, containing a great amount of iron pyrites.

None of the coal seams of the country occur in the carboniferous system, which is known as the chief coal-producing formation in Europe and America. The oldest of Japanese coal-bearing strata are in the rocks of the Mesozoic era. The representatives of this are the anthracite fields extending over the districts of Mine, Hirose, and Toyora, in the province of Nagato; another in the Amakusa district, province of Higo; and the coal-field of Higashi-muro district, in the province of Kii. So numerous and extensive are the coal-fields that even to give a fair idea of their locations and qualities would require a chapter by itself, but some idea of the progress of the coal-mining industry may be gained from the fact that in 1901 there were twenty-two mines from each of which more than 100,000 tons of coal were taken, and that these twenty-two mines alone produce a total of more that 4,500,000 tons. Of this amount the Miike, province of Chikugo, furnished 905,738 tons.

In 1890 the Mining Law, which is still in force, was enacted. According to this law, special concessions or permission of the Minister for Agriculture and Commerce is required for the mining enterprise or the exploration of mines. Of two or more applications for one and the same place, the preference is given to that of the earliest date. The period allowed for exploration is limited to one year (in special cases prolongation within one year is permitted), for which term no other person may apply for the same kind of mineral in the same region. The extent of one mining area must be more than 10,000 tsubo (about 8.16 acres) in the case of coal-mines, in other cases more than 3,000 tsubo (about 2.45 acres), and not exceed 60,000 tsubo (about 49.014 acres). For the sake of the administration of the mining industry the whole country is divided into five districts, each of which has a mining inspection office. Each miner is obliged to make a mining programme every year, which, after being examined and sanctioned by the director of the Mining Inspection Office, must be strictly followed out. In case the miner fails to deliver the programme in proper time, the concession may be repealed. The same applies, also, if the mining enterprise or exploration is prejudicial to the public welfare, if the mining work is discontinued for one full year, or not started before one full year from the date of concession, if the concession or the permission has been given by mistake, or been obtained by fraudulent means, or if the situation and ​formation of the mining sett is in discordance with the natural formation of the ore deposit in such a manner as is unfit for the full exploitation of the mines. In all these cases, however, application to the Court of Administrative Litigation is allowed. The director of the Mining Inspection Office is authorized, if he find some part of the mining work injurious to the public welfare or dangerous, to order the temporary suspension of the mining work, or proper arrangements for the prevention of the injury or danger. Special facilities are given to the miner, that he may, with the permission of the director of the Mining Inspection Office, survey any part of the land belonging to other persons without the consent of the owner, and that no one may reject his request to lease any land except railway, tramway, public road, river, lake, dyke, park, building site, etc., if he want it for erecting refineries or other buildings, for constructing road, tramway, railway, etc. It may be added that prior to 1900, Japanese subjects only were allowed to undertake mining industry or become the partners or shareholders of a mining company, but according to the amendment introduced in the same year, any Japanese subject or any company organized in accordance with the Japanese Commercial Code may undertake mining industry in Japan, so that foreigners may now take part in the mining industry in Japan as partners or shareholders of a mining company.

In 1893 a special law for placer mining was enacted, which contained in the main articles of the same purport with those of the Mining Law.

The output of the principal mineral products for the at 1901 was as follows: