Sumitomo Metal working to start mining new gold deposit in 2019

October 22, 2017

Isa Kagoshima- Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. is working to start mining a new gold ore deposit in its Hishikari Mine, the only existing commercial gold mine in Japan, in 2019 at the earliest.

The company has recently showed the mine in Isa, Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, to journalists for the first time in 10 years.

The deposit, discovered in 2012, is estimated to hold 30 tons of gold. Its ore is believed to contain up to several thousand grams of gold per ton.

Sumitomo Metal Mining, which has spent 3.2 billion yen on the deposit, initially planned to start the mining in 2018. But the preparatory work is falling behind schedule.

Currently, work to pump hot spring water is under way 50 meters below sea level in the mine, in order to prevent it from hampering mining operations there.

About a third of the hot spring water pumped from the mine is used in local spa facilities.

From the mine, about 6 tons of gold are annually dug out. The average amount of gold per ton of ore stands at 30 grams, nearly 10 times the average at mines around the world.

Thanks to the new deposit, the current level of annual output is "expected to be maintained for the time being," said Kazuya Sakano, chief of the company's mining division. Jiji Press