The development of non-ferrous metal mining made a large contribution to the industrial development of Japan after 1868. Non-ferrous metal mining has a long history, but this paper aims to cover the period between 1868 and 1885 characterised by the coexistence of state and private mines. It is during this period that numerous novel techniques were introduced to the industry along with an influx of foreign engineers whose documented suggestions shed light on the possible causes of the problems faced by the mines. Particularly enlightening is the comment made by one such foreign engineer C. Netto that technological advances needed to be accompanied by the creation of unified mine management. This eventually took form when the traditional power of subcontractors under the old system fell and a new system emerged. The difference in the way state and private mines regarded foreign engineers is also notable in that it may explain the difference in the performance between them during this period. As a whole, foreign engineers played a vital role in the modernisation of mining in many aspects, but the efforts of the miners and the managers who quickly learnt from them must not be forgotten. Indeed by the end of the period, the Japanese miners and managers were ready to carry on with the modernisation by themselves into the next stage.