History of Miike mine

Abstract

It has been described that coal was discovered at Miike, Japan in 1465.In Edo era, Miike mine had been operated systematically for 150 years.
A westernized mining technology was introduced by the British in 1878. Mitsui Mining Company Limited succeeded the operation in 1889 and has continued it up to the present.
In spite of huge amount of coal resources and thick seam, Miike mine had been trou-bled with a gush of water and faced with a severe condition of the mining under the bot-tom of the sea since 1910. However, Miike mine has defeated these disadvantages with the constant efforts and the employment of new technologies, and has built up the pre-sent status accumulating the valuable experiences.
Miike mine has played an important roll of a leader in mining industries and has contributed to the society. Unfortunately, Miike mine has at last come to an end of the roll in 1997 for economical reason. In the history of 110 years, Mitsui mining company produced and supplied over 289 million tons of coal. Now we have a duty to look back the course Miike mine and Mitsui mining company have followed and achieved.