Jiuhua Mountain Copper Mine Ruins

Jiuhua Mountain Copper Mine Ruins

The mine site is located at the foot of Nanshan Mountain, 3 kilometers northeast of Tangshan Town, Jiangning District, Nanjing City, on the 108 working face at the base of Yin Kong Mountain in the Funiu Mountain mining area of the Nanjing Jiuhua Mountain Copper Mine, 40 meters below the surface. It was discovered in 1974, and in the summer of 1987, the Nanjing Museum and the Nanjing Museum of History and Archaeology conducted a joint investigation of the site.

The mining operation mainly used an extraction method that prioritized open pits supplemented by tunnels. The work process began with sinking vertical shafts, followed by the development of mining pits. Currently, 10 vertical shafts have been discovered, either perfectly vertical or slightly curved, typically square-shaped at the opening with sides about 1 meter in length. Twenty-eight tunnels have also been found, including both horizontal and inclined types, mostly blade-shaped at the entrance with diameters ranging from 0.75 to 1.15 meters. These layered and stacked shafts and tunnels were used for transportation, ventilation, and drainage. Five mining pits have been identified, generally covering a space of around 300 square meters and standing about 10 meters high. They are stacked vertically, interconnected by trapezoidal vertical shafts. At the time, a segmented spiral ramp mining technique was employed, with clearly defined upper, middle, and lower working levels, as well as large, medium, and small segments—large segments being 50–60 meters long, medium ones around 12 meters, and small ones about 3.5 meters. This ingenious method of mining by skillfully utilizing the structure of the roof and floor, and extracting ore layer by layer, not only required advanced excavation techniques but also a solid understanding of the theoretical formation of the ore deposit.

The main tools used for mining at the time were iron chisels and hammers, along with wooden hooks, wooden hoists for lifting ore, and baskets. Based on the discovery of celadon bowls and oil lamps from the Yixing kiln found within the mine pits and tunnels, it is estimated that the mining took place around the mid-Tang Dynasty.