Control Room at Ashio Copper Mine, a steel control panel stretches along the left wall, its face pocked with mould and rust.

01 Ashio Copper MineAshio2016

ISO 1001/25f/9.019mm

Series · 25 prints

Ashio Copper Mine

Photographed 2016
Frames 25
Camera NIKON D810
Location Tochigi, Japan
Status Tourist attraction and museum since 1980
Closed 1973
01 ABOUT THIS SERIES

Series story

Map · Mapbox · OpenStreetMap

Furukawa Ichibei acquired the Ashio mine in 1877 with financial backing from Shibusawa Eiichi. By 1922 the operation had consolidated its three separate ore-processing plants into one. The Tsudō Ore-Dressing Plant, on the Watarase River, was held up at home and abroad as a model facility for metal mines.

METI's 2007 register of modern industrial heritage carries the plant as item 02 of Story 12, the Ashio modernisation and pollution-prevention narrative. The 2008 National Historic Site designation, by contrast, covers the mine shafts and the smelter but leaves the dressing plant unlisted.

Inside, the process ran top-to-bottom by gravity. Raw ore dropped through hoppers, then through hand-riveted ball mills, then into timber froth flotation cells dating from 1918. At one of the hoppers, the ore is still piled around the spade in the position the operator left it.

The Ashio mine closed in 1973 and the dressing plant stopped with it. The buildings sit on Furukawa Machinery & Metals private land, not publicly accessible. Water still runs through the PVC pipes inside under gravity, likely part of the environmental controls keeping contaminated water out of the Watarase.

Nippon.com (Ashio Copper Mine), UNU Press (Ashio Pollution Case) and Association for Asian Studies (Nation Versus People)

02 TIMELINE

Chronology

1877
1890
1891
1896
1897
1907
1973
2008
03 PRINTS

Prints in this series

Hand-signed limited editions, printed from the original RAW file. Editions run from 100 down to 25 and are not reissued once they sell through.

Control Room at Ashio Copper Mine, a steel control panel stretches along the left wall, its face pocked with mould and rust.
Control Room
Ball Mill Outlet at Ashio Copper Mine, a large ball mill sits at the centre of the processing hall, its open bore facing.
Ball Mill Outlet
Raw Material Conveyors at Ashio Copper Mine, crushed limestone and raw ore spill across the floor of the processing hall.
Raw Material Conveyors
Switching Panel at Ashio Copper Mine, a high-voltage switching panel stands open inside a corrugated iron shed at the Ashio.
Switching Panel
Hoppers at Ashio Copper Mine, steel-framed hoppers run the length of a corrugated iron shed at Ashio Copper Mine.
Hoppers
Fan at Ashio Copper Mine, a green-bladed pedestal fan stands on warped timber floorboards inside a corrugated iron workshop.
Fan
Mountain View at Ashio Copper Mine, steel trusses and heavy pipework fill the interior of a vast processing shed.
Mountain View
Raw Material Chutes at Ashio Copper Mine, a long concrete corridor stretches deep into the building, narrowing to a faint.
Raw Material Chutes
Catwalk at Ashio Copper Mine, steel railings and timber walkways span the upper floor of a processing shed at the Ashio.
Catwalk
Froth Flotation Cells at Ashio Copper Mine, a narrow metal grating walkway runs between two rows of timber-lined flotation.
Froth Flotation Cells
Ball Mill at Ashio Copper Mine, a massive ball mill sits on concrete footings inside the ore processing hall.
Ball Mill
Ashio Copper Mine at Ashio Copper Mine, concrete and corrugated steel buildings climb the slope in tiers, connected.
Ashio Copper Mine
Managers Office at Ashio Copper Mine, a small timber-framed office crammed with debris.
Managers Office
Top Of The Works at Ashio Copper Mine, steel staircases climb through two levels of the processing hall.
Top Of The Works
Milling Area at Ashio Copper Mine, a large drum mill sits bolted to its concrete plinth, Japanese characters cast.
Milling Area
Ball Mills at Ashio Copper Mine, a cylindrical hopper rises on steel legs to the left, rust coating every surface in deep.
Ball Mills
Cleaning Flotation at Ashio Copper Mine, flotation cells line both sides of a narrow steel grating walkway.
Cleaning Flotation
Gantry at Ashio Copper Mine, steel gantries and mesh walkways stack across multiple levels inside the ore processing hall.
Gantry
Refinery at Ashio Copper Mine, corrugated iron cladding covers the refinery building in heavy, weathered sheets.
Refinery
Holding Area at Ashio Copper Mine, concrete plinths rise from a dirt floor inside a corrugated iron shed.
Holding Area
Crusher at Ashio Copper Mine, a cone crusher sits at the centre of the frame, bolted to a concrete plinth two storeys.
Crusher
Void at Ashio Copper Mine, steel trusses span the full width of the processing hall, rising three storeys above a bare.
Void
Looking Down at Ashio Copper Mine, steel framework fills the entire frame, viewed from an elevated gantry looking down.
Looking Down
Vertical Conveyors at Ashio Copper Mine, mineral residue buries the base of a vertical conveyor system inside the Ashio.
Vertical Conveyors
Raw Material Conveyor at Ashio Copper Mine, heavy timber posts run in a long colonnade down the length of the conveyor.
Raw Material Conveyor
04 ABOUT THE PRINTS

How they’re made

Made to order by Brett in Sydney, from the original RAW file. Each print is hand-signed and numbered before it ships.

Paper

Ilford Galerie cotton rag, 310 gsm. Acrylic on metallic gloss, 260 gsm.

Editions

Open in XS and S. Limited in M (100), L (50), XL (25). From $100.

Print tiers →

Lead time

Unframed: 5 to 10 business days. Framed and acrylic: 10 to 20.

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