Jinguashi Mine (New Taipei City Gold Museum)

The Jinguashi Mine (金瓜石鉱山, Kinkaseki kōzan; Chinese: 金瓜石礦山) was a major gold and copper mining complex located in the mountainous terrain of Jinguashi (金瓜石), Ruifang District (瑞芳區), New Taipei City, Taiwan. With over 600 kilometres of tunnels honeycombing the surrounding mountains, it ranked among the largest precious metal mines in the world.

Discovery and Early Development (1890–1895)

Placer gold was discovered in the Keelung River in 1890 during railway bridge construction; prospectors tracing the alluvial gold upstream reached the mountains near Jiufen, and the Jinguashi ore body was found in 1893. The discovery triggered a gold rush in the final years of the Qing dynasty. The Qing government attempted to regulate mining but exercised limited control before Taiwan was ceded to Japan under the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895.

Japanese Colonial Era (1895–1945)

Under Japanese rule, systematic industrial mining began. The mine was initially operated by the Tanaka Group (田中組), which introduced modern mining technology and infrastructure. In November 1925, control passed to Ushiroku Shintarō (後宮信太郎), who formed the Kinkaseki Mining Company (金瓜石鉱山株式会社) and revived output. In 1933, the Nippon Mining Company (日本鑛業株式會社, Nihon Kōgyō Kabushiki Kaisha) bought the mine and invested heavily in expanding operations, running it through Taiwan Kōgyō K.K. (台湾鉱業株式会社, Taiwan Mining Company).

Under Japanese management, Jinguashi earned a reputation as the foremost precious-metal mine in Asia and was also Taiwan's leading copper producer. In 1904, the discovery of enargite (arsenic-copper sulfate mineral) at the No. 3 Mine shaft shifted the focus from purely gold and silver to a diversified gold-silver-copper operation. Production figures were substantial: gold output peaked around 1938 at over 70,000 taels (roughly 2.6 tonnes) a year, while copper production in 1936 is given as 7,350 tons in English-language sources and about 11,000 tons in Japanese ones — more than any other mine in Taiwan.

The Shuinandong Smelter (水湳洞選煉廠), constructed in 1933 on a hillside adjacent to the mining area, processed ores from both Jinguashi and nearby Jiufen into refined copper and gold. Built into the mountainside in a distinctive tiered structure spanning approximately 13 levels (hence its modern nickname 十三層遺址, "Remains of the 13 Levels"), the smelter was one of Asia's largest ore-processing facilities during the colonial period.

To accommodate visiting dignitaries, the Crown Prince Chalet (太子賓館) was constructed in 1922 — an elegant Japanese-style wooden residence originally built for a planned inspection visit by Crown Prince Hirohito (later Emperor Shōwa). Although the Crown Prince's visit to Jinguashi never materialised, the building survives as one of the finest preserved Japanese wooden structures in Taiwan.

The mine complex covered approximately 5.5 million tsubo (approximately 18.18 km²) and employed thousands of miners. At its peak, the Jinguashi mining settlement was a self-contained community with worker dormitories, a Shinto shrine (金瓜石神社), hospital, school, and commercial facilities.

Wartime Intensification (1937–1945)

Following the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937 and the subsequent Pacific War, the Jinguashi Mine was designated a critical strategic resource for the Japanese war effort. Gold was essential for purchasing war materiel from neutral nations, while copper was indispensable for munitions, electrical equipment, and shipbuilding.

United States Navy intelligence analysis during WWII identified the Kinkaseki gold mines as among Imperial Japan's largest sources of gold, based on production figures from 1937. The Imperial Japanese government directed that production be maximised at all costs.

To supplement the labour force under wartime conditions, the Japanese military established the Kinkaseki Prisoner of War Camp (金瓜石捕虜収容所, officially Taiwan POW Camp No. 1) in November 1942, adjacent to the mine. Over 1,100 Allied prisoners — predominantly British Commonwealth soldiers captured at Singapore — were forced to perform slave labour in the copper mine's deep tunnels. Conditions were among the worst endured by POWs anywhere in the Pacific theatre: temperatures exceeding 40°C, no ventilation, constant rockfalls, and starvation rations. Many of the prisoners held at Kinkaseki died there.

In addition to POW labour, conscripted Taiwanese (本島人) and Korean workers were mobilised to sustain wartime production levels. By 1944–1945, Allied submarine and air operations had established an effective naval blockade around Taiwan, making it impossible to ship ore to Japan. The mine's output declined sharply, and the Kinkaseki POW Camp was closed in March 1945.

Post-War Period and Closure (1945–1987)

Following Japan's surrender on 15 August 1945 and Taiwan's retrocession to the Republic of China, the mine was taken over in 1946 by a preparatory office of the National Resources Commission, which became the Taiwan Gold and Copper Mining Bureau (臺灣金銅鑛務局) in 1948 and was reorganised as the Taiwan Metals Mining Company (臺灣金屬鑛業股份有限公司, Taiwan Metal Mining Corp.) in 1955. The state-run company continued gold and copper extraction, but production gradually declined as the richest ore deposits were exhausted. A collapse in world copper prices in the 1980s made continued operations economically unviable, and the Taiwan Metals Mining Company ceased all mining operations and went out of business in 1987. The Taiwan Sugar Corporation subsequently assumed ownership of the land.

Gold Ecological Park / Gold Museum (2004–present)

After years of abandonment, the Taipei County Government (now New Taipei City Government) transformed the historic mining complex into the Gold Ecological Park (黃金博物園區), which opened to the public on 4 November 2004 as Taiwan's first ecological museum. After the formation of New Taipei City in 2010, the park was renamed the New Taipei City Gold Museum (新北市立黃金博物館).

The museum complex preserves and interprets the site's mining heritage through several key attractions: the Gold Building (黃金館), which houses a 220-kilogram 999.9 pure gold ingot — one of the largest in the world; the Benshan Fifth Tunnel (本山五坑), a restored mine tunnel offering visitors a simulated underground mining experience; the Crown Prince Chalet (太子賓館), the elegant 1922 Japanese wooden residence; the Four Joined Japanese-Style Residences (四連棟日式宿舍), restored mining staff quarters; and the Jin Shui Special Exhibition Hall. The nearby Remains of the 13 Levels (十三層遺址) — the dramatic ruins of the 1933 Shuinandong Smelter — have become an iconic photographic landmark, illuminated by an art installation since 2019.

The Gold Museum emphasises heritage preservation, sustainable development, and adaptive reuse of historic buildings. It serves as a comprehensive record of Taiwan's gold mining history, Japanese colonial industrial development, and the wartime experiences of both mine workers and Allied POWs. The adjacent Kinkaseki POW Memorial Park (國際終戰和平紀念園區) complements the museum by preserving the memory of Allied prisoners who suffered in the mine.