6Sumitomo Metal MiningCorporate ProfileThe Niihama Smelter circa 1990 [Sumitomo Historical Archives]The Shisakajima Smelter in 1905 [Sumitomo Historical Archives]1888Modernization of the mining business through the introduction of Western technologiesIn 1874, Sumitomo engaged the services of Louis Larroque, a French mining engineer, for the purpose of increasing production capacity at the Besshi Copper Mine. On the basis of Besshi Mine Prospectus, a report prepared by Larroque, Sumitomo pursued modernization of mining and transportation by introducing Western technologies for, for example, extension of the eastern sloping mine shafts to extract ore deep underground, excavation using dynamite, introduction of a rock drill, and the laying of a railroad. These initiatives resulted in increased ore production at the Besshi Copper Mine. The smelter was relocated from the Besshi mountains to a coastal site in Niihama, and a Western-style copper smelter began full-scale operation in 1888. Subsequently, with the opening of the Besshi Copper Mine railway linking the mines and Niihama, transportation capacity dramatically increased. The volume of ore processed at the smelter also grew substantially.1905Relocation of the smelter to Shisakajima Islands and pioneering of environmental protectionAccompanying technological innovation driven by modernization, annual copper output from the Besshi Copper Mine reached a record high of 3,500 tons in 1897, a six-fold increase from 30 years earlier. However, a critical situation arose because sulfur dioxide gas produced during smelting had a harmful effect on crops in the area surrounding the Niihama Smelter. Accordingly, Iba Teigo, the manager of the Besshi Copper Mine, decided to once again relocate the smelter, this time from Niihama to Shisakajima Islands, an uninhabited island in the Seto Inland Sea, in order to prevent further smoke damage. The relocated smelter started operation in 1905. Although this regrettably did not prove to be a definitive solution, Sumitomo continued to invest heavily, in terms of both financial resources and time, in research to solve this problem, which plagued copper smelting facilities worldwide. In 1939, Sumitomo became the first company in the world to achieve recovery of sulfur dioxide gas, the cause of the smoke damage.
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