Mines and Mineral Processing Facilities in the Vicinity of 

the March 11, 2011, Earthquake in Northern Honshu, Japan

By W. David Menzie, Michael S. Baker, Donald I. Bleiwas, and Chin Kuo

Open-File Report 2011–1069

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey
U.S. Department of the Interior

KEN SALAZAR, Secretary

U.S. Geological Survey

Marcia K. McNutt, Director

U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia: 2011 

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Suggested citation:

Menzie, W.D., Baker, M.S., Bleiwas, D.I., and Kuo, Chin, 2011, Mines and mineral processing facilities in the vicinity of 

the March 11, 2011, earthquake in northern Honshu, Japan: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2011–1069, 7 

p. (Available only at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2011/1069/.)

Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply 

endorsement by the U.S. Government. 

Although this report is in the public domain, permission must be secured from the individual 

copyright owners to reproduce any copyrighted material contained within this report.
iii

Contents

Mines and Mineral Processing Facilities in Northern Honshu, Japan ............................................................................ 1

Requirements for Operation of the Mines and Mineral Processing Facilities................................................................. 5

Conclusions................................................................................................................................................................... 7

References Cited........................................................................................................................................................... 7 

Figures

1. Map showing the location of mines and mineral facilities in Japan................................................................... 2

2. Composite color image produced from satellite data captured at 10:07 UTC on March 9, 2011 ...................... 6

3. Composite color image produced from satellite data captured at 9:30 UTC on March 12, 2011 ...................... 7

Table

1. Mines and mineral processing facilities in northern Honshu, Japan ................................................................. 3
1

Mines and Mineral Processing Facilities in the Vicinity of 

the March 11, 2011, Earthquake in Northern Honshu, 

Japan

By W. David Menzie, Michael Baker, Donald I. Bleiwas, and Chin Kuo

Mines and Mineral Processing Facilities in Northern Honshu, Japan

U.S. Geological Survey data indicate that the area affected by the March 11, 2011, magnitude 

9.0 earthquake and associated tsunami is home to nine cement plants, eight iodine plants, four iron and 

steel plants, four limestone mines, three copper refineries, two gold refineries, two lead refineries, two

zinc refineries, one titanium dioxide plant, and one titanium sponge processing facility (fig. 1, table 1).

These facilities have the capacity to produce the following percentages of the world’s nonfuel mineral 

production: 25 percent of iodine, 10 percent of titanium sponge (metal), 3 percent of refined zinc, 2.5

percent of refined copper, and 1.4 percent of steel. In addition, the nine cement plants contribute about 

one-third of Japan’s cement annual production. The iodine is a byproduct from production of natural gas 

at the Miniami Kanto gas field, east of Tokyo in Chiba Prefecture. Japan is the world’s second leading

(after Chile) producer of iodine, which is processed in seven nearby facilities.
2

Figure 1. Map showing the location of mines and mineral facilities in Japan. Modified from Baker and others 

(2010).
3

Table 1. Mines and mineral processing facilities in northern Honshu, Japan.

[NA, not available]

Facility no.

(fig. 1)

Mineral 

commodity Location Facility type Operating company Principal owner

883 Cement Asio, Tochigi 

Prefecture

Plant Sumitomo Osaka Cement Co. 

Ltd.

NA.

891 Cement Higashiyama, Iwate 

Prefecture

Plant Mitsubishi Materials Corp. NA.

895 Cement Yokoze, Saitama 

Prefecture

Plant Mitsubishi Materials Corp. NA.

907 Cement Ofunato, Iwate 

Prefecture

Plant Taiheiyo Cement Corp. NA.

909 Cement Kumagaya, Saitama 

Prefecture

Plant Taiheiyo Cement Corp. NA.

914 Cement Saitama, Saitama 

Prefecture

Plant Taiheiyo Cement Corp. NA.

916 Cement Kawasaki, Kanagawa 

Prefecture

Plant Daiichi Cement Co. Ltd. NA.

917 Cement Hitachi, Ibaraki 

Prefecture

Plant Hitachi Cement Co. Ltd. NA.

920 Cement Chichibu, Saitama 

Prefecture

Plant Taiheiyo Cement Corp. NA.

924 Copper,

refined

Hitachi, Ibaraki 

Prefecture

Plant Pan Pacific Copper Co. Ltd. Nippon Mining and Metals Co. 

Ltd., 60%.

927 Copper, 

refined

Onahama, Fukushima 

Prefecture

Plant Onahama Smelting and Refining 

Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi Materials Corp., 

49.29%.

930 Copper, 

refined

Kosaka, Akita 

Prefecture

Plant Kosaka Smelting and Refining 

Co. Ltd.

Dowa Metals and Mining Co. 

Ltd., 100%.

935 Gold, refined Hitachi, Ibaraki 

Prefecture

Plant Pan Pacific Copper Co. Ltd. Nippon Mining and Metals Co. 

Ltd. 60%.

936 Gold, refined Kosaka, Akita 

Prefecture

Plant Kosaka Smelting and Refining 

Co. Ltd.

Dowa Metals and Mining Co. 

Ltd., 100%.

938 Iodine, crude Ichinomiya, Chiba 

Prefecture

Plant Ise Chemical Industries Co. Ltd. Asahi Glass Co. Ltd., 52.4%.

939 Iodine, crude Oami-Shirasato, Chiba 

Prefecture

Plant Ise Chemical Industries Co. Ltd. Asahi Glass Co. Ltd., 52.4%.

941 Iodine, crude Chosei, Chiba 

Prefecture

Plant Godo Shigen Sangyo Co. Ltd. Kanto Natural Gas 

Development Co. Ltd., 11%.

942 Iodine, crude Isumi, Chiba Prefecture Plant Nippon Chemicals Co. Ltd. Nippon Shokubai Co. Ltd., 

17%.

943 Iodine, crude Kurosaki, Niigata 

Prefecture

Plant Toho Earthtech, Inc. Itochi Corp., 34.1%.
4

Facility no.

(fig. 1)

Mineral 

commodity Location Facility type Operating company Principal owner

944 Iodine, crude Mobara, Chiba 

Prefecture

Plant Kanto Natural Gas Development 

Co. Ltd.

Mitsui Chemicals, Inc., 21.9%.

945 Iodine, crude Shirako, Chiba 

Prefecture

Plant Nihon Tennen Gas Co. Ltd. Kanto Natural Gas 

Development Co. Ltd., 50%.

946 Iodine, crude Yokoshiba, Chiba 

Prefecture

Plant Nihon Tennen Gas Co. Ltd. Kanto Natural Gas 

Development Co. Ltd., 50%.

947 Iron and steel,

crude steel

Chiba, Chiba 

Prefecture

Plant JFE Steel Corp. JFE Holdings Inc., 100%.

950 Iron and steel,

crude steel

Kawasaki (Keihin), 

Kanagawa 

Prefecture

Plant JFE Steel Corp. JFE Holdings Inc., 100%.

953 Iron and steel,

crude steel

Kimitsu, Chiba 

Prefecture

Plant Nippon Steel Corp. NA.

957 Iron and steel,

crude steel

Kashima, Ibaraki 

Prefecture

Plant Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd. NA.

966 Lead, refined Kosaka, Akita 

Prefecture

Plant Kosaka Smelting and Refining 

Co. Ltd.

Dowa Metals and Mining Co. 

Ltd., 100%.

967 Lead, refined Hosokura, Miyagi 

Prefecture

Plant Hosokura Smelting and Refining 

Mining Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi Materials Corp., 

100%.

970 Limestone Ofunato, Iwate 

Prefecture

Mine Taiheiyo Cement Co. Ltd. NA.

973 Limestone Taiheiyo Buko, 

Saitama Prefecture

Mine Taiheiyo Cement Co. Ltd. NA.

976 Limestone Hanezuru, Tochigi 

Prefecture

Mine Nittetsu Mining Co. Ltd. NA.

985 Limestone Karasuyama, Tochigi 

Prefecture

Mine Sumitomo-Osaka Cement Co. 

Ltd.

NA.

1000 Titanium 

dioxide

Onahama, Fukushima 

Prefecture

Plant Sakai Chemical Industries Co. 

Ltd.

NA.

1005 Titanium, 

sponge 

metal

Chigasaki, Kanagawa 

Prefecture

Plant Toho Titanium Co. Ltd. Nippon Mining and Metals Co. 

Ltd., 47%.

1006 Zinc, refined Iijima, Akita Prefecture Plant Akita Zinc Co. Ltd. Dowa Metals and Mining Co. 

Ltd., 81%.

1007 Zinc, refined Annaka, Gunma 

Prefecture

Plant Toho Zinc Co. Ltd. NA.
5

Requirements for Operation of the Mines and Mineral Processing Facilities

Maintaining or resuming operations at the facilities listed earlier in this report will depend not 

only on whether the facilities sustained damage from the earthquake and tsunami but also upon the 

condition of the surrounding infrastructure, including electric power and transportation systems (ports, 

railroads, and roads), necessary to obtain raw materials and to deliver finished products, as well as on 

reassembling the workforce that operates the facilities.

Mineral extraction and processing facilities are large consumers of electricity. When operating at 

full capacity, these facilities consume about 2.5 percent of Japan’s production of electricity. A number 

of the facilities, which were not damaged by the earthquake, have limited activity or ceased operation 

owing to restrictions on the use of electricity. Figures 2 and 3 show the effect of the earthquake on 

electrical power availability as indicated by lights observed in images produced by the Earth 

Observation Group of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on the nights of March 9 

and 12.

Figure 1 shows the location of railroads and ports in the region. Popular media reports indicated

damage to the ports at Hitachi, Ishinomaki, Kamaishi, Kashima, Kesennuma, Miyako, Ofunato, 

Onagawa, Sendai, Soma, and Shiogama. In addition, damage was sustained at the port of Hachinohe, 

which is north of the area shown on the map in figure 1.
6

Figure 2. Composite color image by the Earth Observation Group of the National Geophysical Center, National 

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration from satellite data captured at 10:07 UTC on March 9, 2011, from 

U.S. Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program satellite F–18. The yellow color on the map shows 

lights, magenta indicates lights obscured by clouds, light blue shows clouds, dark blue is the ocean, red 

indicates locations under a power outage, and green is lighting diffused by cloud cover.
7

Figure 3. Composite color image by the Earth Observation Group of the National Geophysical Center, National

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration from satellite data captured at 21:30 UTC on March 12, 2011, (one 

day after the earthquake) from U.S. Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program satellite F–18 The 

yellow color on the map shows lights, magenta indicates lights obscured by clouds, light blue shows clouds, 

dark blue is the ocean, red indicates locations under a power outage, and green is lighting diffused by cloud 

cover. 

Conclusions

Understanding the long term effects of the March 11th earthquake and tsunami is only 

beginning. According to The Economist (2011), the economic impact of natural disasters is often shortlived; however, “earthquakes have small but consistently negative effects on economic growth” owing 

to destruction of factories, transportation infrastructure, and electrical systems. In the short-term, lost 

production of mineral commodities will likely be felt in Japan and beyond. 

References Cited

Baker, M.S., Elias, Nurudeen, Guzmán, Eric, and Soto-Viruet, Yadira, 2010, Mineral facilities of Asia 

and the Pacific: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2010–1254, 1 pl., 51-p. table, available 

only at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2010/1254/. 

Economist, The, 2011, The cost of calamity: The Economist, March 17, p. 86. (Accessed March 22, 

2011, at http://www.economist.com/node/18387016.)