Guide
Kitazawa Floating Smelter is a large-scale industrial ruin located in the Kitazawa district of Sado City, Niigata Prefecture. These facilities once played a crucial role in the modernization of the Sado Gold Mine and are now preserved as part of the Sado Gold and Silver Mine Site, a nationally designated historical site. The most striking feature is its overwhelming scale. The stepped concrete structures and the massive remains of a 50-meter diameter thickener (a device used to separate solids from liquids) stand as a powerful testament to the former prosperity of the mining industry.
The facility was developed between 1937 and 1940 as part of a national policy to increase production during the period of conflict in East Asia. At the time, it implemented the cutting-edge