Mindat Logo

Kamaishi mine, Kamaishi City, Iwate Prefecture, Tohoku Region, Honshu Island, Japan

Ref.: Geological Survey of Japan (1960).

Shiga, Y. (1987) Behavior of iron, nickel, cobalt and sulfur during serpentinization, with reference to Hayachine ultramafic rocks of the Kamaishi mining district, northeastern Japan. Canadian Mineralogist: 25: 611-624.

Anthony, Bideaux, Bladh, Nichols: "Handbook of Mineralogy", Vol. 1, 1990;

Rocks & Minerals: 22: 320.

An abandoned iron-copper mine at least 500 meters deep. Contact metasomatic (skarn) ores around a Cretaceous dioritic granite intrusion. Worked for iron (magnetite orebodies) and copper-gold-silver (chalcopyrite-cubanite orebodies). At least 15 orebodies, including Shinyama, Nippo, Sahinai and Rasa-Omine orebodies. Shinyama is the largest Fe skarn orebody in Japan, 400m long, 80m wide, 550m high. Magnetite-garnet skarns were worked for iron already during the Tokugawa shogunate era, with Japan's first modern blast furnace built here in 1857 (late Edo era). Peak production was in the 1970s. 1958 production: 1.04 million tons ore averaging 28.6% Fe (the highest Fe ore production in Japan). Mine now closed, but there is commercial production of bottled mineral water.




Mineral list contains contents from all localities listed at bottom of page


Mineral List:
  • Actinolite
  • Andradite
  • Argentopentlandite
  • Arsenopyrite
  • Axinite-(Fe)
  • Bicchulite
  • Bornite
  • Calcite
  • Chalcopyrite
  • 'Chlorite Group'
  • 'Clinoptilolite'
  • 'Clinopyroxene Subgroup'
  • Cobaltite
  • Copper
  • Costibite ?
  • Cubanite
  • Danburite
  • Diopside
  • Epidote
  • Gersdorffite
  • Gold
       var: Electrum
  • 'Grandite'
  • Grossular
  • Grunerite
  • Hedenbergite
  • 'Hornblende'
  • Kamaishilite (TL)
  • Laumontite
  • Lepidocrocite
  • Löllingite
  • Magnetite
  • Meionite
  • Natrolite
  • Palygorskite
  • Paracostibite ?
  • Pentlandite
    var: Argentian Pentlandite
  • Prehnite
  • Pyrrhotite
  • Quartz
  • Safflorite
  • Schorl
  • Silver
       var: Küstelite
  • Smythite
  • Starkeyite
  • 'Stilbite'
  • Stilpnomelane
  • Tilleyite
  • Tochilinite
  • Uraninite
  • Vesuvianite
  • Vonsenite


    53 entries listed. 44 valid minerals. 1 type locality (valid mineral).

    Localities in this Region:
    Japan
     
    • Honshu Island
      • Tohoku Region
        • Iwate Prefecture
          • Kamaishi City
            • Kamaishi mine

    The above list contains all mineral locality references listed on mindat.org. This does not claim to be a complete list. If you know of more minerals from this site, please register so you can add to our database!
    This page is currently not sponsored. Click here to find out how you can sponsor this page.


    Mineral and/or Locality
    Google
     
    www.mindat.org Web
    Copyright © Jolyon & Ida Ralph 1993-2008. Site Map. Locality, mineral & photograph data are the copyright of the individuals who submitted them.Further information contact the Site hosted & developed by Jolyon Ralph. Mindat.org is an online information resource dedicated to providing free mineralogical information to all. Mindat relies on the contributions of hundreds of members and supporters. If you would like to add information to improve the quality of our database, then click here to register.