Taipei: Stacey and I go to the mines

On Stacey's 4th day we took a trip to Jinguashi and Jioufen to see the remains of a gold mine. Jinguashi means "golden gourd stone." The town earned its name because the top of the mountain resembles a pumpkin and pumpkins are called jin-gua or "golden-gourd."

From the train station Stacey and I took a very scary bus ride to the Gold Ecological Park. The bus ride consisted of quick turns up and down the switchbacks of the mountain on a very narrow street in the rain.

One of the parks activities was a tour through a preserved mining tunnel; Benshan Five Tunnel.

When we purchased our tickets to go into the tunnel the cashier gave us two little blue paper hats. We thought that was a little odd, because what good would paper hats do in a mine?

We realized later that the little blue paper hats were sanitary barriers to wear underneath the plastic hardhats; which is probably why the attendant taking our picture was laughing.

Once inside the mine the temperature dropped dramatically. It was a nice change from the outside hot and humid air.

Stacey and I are at the end of the mine tunnel. Our mining experience was a pleasant break from the heat. However, we were also not working with explosives or in fear of thousands of tonnes of mountain collapsing on our heads.

After our tour, I was very curious about the conditions and history of the mine. Most of the information I found on mining and the life of miners was about California. However, this is the limited information I could find about Jinguashi. Gold was discovered in 1889, and the Ching Dynasty government set up a mining bureau between 1892 and 1893. In 1895, Taiwan was ceded to Japan, and Japan took over the mining operations. In 1905, copper was also discovered here and began to be extracted.

In 1942, the Japanese brought Allied POWs from Southeast Asia (most were British) to work the mines as slaves. In total 1,135 Allied POWs worked the Jinguashi mines during WWII. The mine and the refinery operated until 1987.

Here are some random mining facts I found doing research:
1) Between 1848 and 1852 California's population grew from 14,000 to 223,000.
2) In 1854 the largest gold nugget ever found was in Carson Hill, CA it weighed 195 lbs. valued at $43,534.
3) For each pound of aluminum you recycle you eliminate the need to mine 4 lbs. of bauxite ore.
4) The Detroit Salt mine is approximately 1160 ft deep. If the mine shaft were a building it would be close to the Empire State Building which is 1260 ft.

Would you like to become a miner? Learn about metal prices, properties for sale and job listings at www.minersmanual.com

Here I am at the end of our hike up the mine hill. You may not be able to see it but, I am giving the double peace signs.

Here is Tea Pot Mountain. It received its name because it resembles a tea pot with no handle.

Can you see it?

One of the things that has impressed me the most about Taiwan is how green everything is. Once outside the city, everything looks so lush and fertile.

This is the remains of one of the mining buildings. Although it was up and running until the early 1980's, it looks like it has been abandon for centuries.