Sado Gold Mine
The Sado Gold Mine complex is located on Sado Island, approximately 35 km west of the coast of Niigata Prefecture, and includes several sections that showcase different non-mechanized mining methods. Sado Island is a volcanic island with two parallel mountain ranges running from southwest to northeast, connected by the alluvial plain, the Kuninaka Plain. The gold and silver deposits on the island were formed when hydrothermal fluids rose to the surface to form veins, then sank to the seafloor due to tectonic movements and then rose to the surface again. The Nishi-Mi-Kawa area, northwest of the Kosado Mountains, was once a placer gold mining site, while in the Aikawa-Tsuruko area, at the southern end of the Osado Mountains, veins that were once mined underground have been exposed by the weathering of volcanic rocks. Most of the material heritage on the island that records mining activities, as well as social and labor organization, has been preserved as archaeological finds, both in terms of above-ground and underground remains and landscape features.