I don't get a chance to photographed abandoned industrial sites all that often, but got a chance to do so at the former Sado Gold Mine, on Sado Island, Japan. Mine cars full of gold bearing ore would be pushed into one of these rotary dumpers, turned upside down and the ore would fall down a chute and be taken by conveyor into a crusher where the refining operation would start. We were told that one tonne of ore (2200 lb) would produce 100g (3.2 troy oz) of gold,
The amazing thing about the mine is that it first started producing gold in 1601 AD and was shut in 1989; almost 400 years of production. The mine is a National Historic Site of Japan and has been proposed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.