Koktokay National Mine Park

Koktokay National Mine Park

Koktokay National Mine Park is a national AAA-level tourist attraction.

In 2016, the Koktokay National Mine Park invested over 30 million yuan to upgrade the Koktokay Geological Exhibition Hall, developed the park’s main monument square and the Aygos Mine, and successfully obtained AAA-level scenic area certification. This has created world-famous geological wonders and a one-of-a-kind geological structure — the “No. 3 Vein,” known as the Sacred Geological Pit.

The “Geological Exhibition Hall” houses precious pictorial and textual materials from over half a century of China’s history, as well as a rich variety of mineral types and ore samples from the No. 3 Vein. The “Aygos Mine,” the only mine tour in Xinjiang, allows visitors to explore the depths of the mine, experience miners’ lives, and uncover treasures. Together with the “No. 3 Vein,” they form a distinctive scenic and thematic tourism area featuring rich cultural content, industrial heritage, geological education, scientific research, popular science education, and red tourism.

Within the scenic area, visitors can climb the hiking trails to overlook the “sea” and enjoy panoramic views of the town’s beauty. They can admire the world’s only treasured exhibit, the “Erqis Stone,” at the Geological Exhibition Hall, experience cutting-edge 360-degree holographic projection and phantom imaging technologies, stand on the old wooden bridge and listen to the murmuring stream, or stroll along the banks of the Erqis River and play in the water...

Koktokay Northland Pearl Tourism Company operates the Koktokay Hotel and Ruixin Hotel, offering 100 standard rooms and the capacity to serve 150 guests for dining. It provides one-stop tourism services integrating food, accommodation, and sightseeing. The company’s scenic area, hotels, and souvenir departments are ready to serve you and will open their doors in April.

The No. 3 Ore Vein is a rare large-scale rare-metal granite pegmatite deposit in the world, notable for its enormous scale, wide range of minerals, high ore grade, abundant reserves, and distinct stratification. Its final mining depth reached 140 meters, stretching 500 meters from east to west and 470 meters from north to south. In the 1950s and 1960s, the ores extracted from the No. 3 Vein made significant contributions to the successful launch of China’s “Two Bombs, One Satellite” program, national defense construction, and the repayment of Soviet debts. It is hailed as the “Heroic Mine” and the “Meritorious Mine.”

The Aygos Mine is approximately 800 meters long, with chilling air inside. The tunnels are flanked by numerous crisscrossing chambers of varying sizes, resembling an underground maze full of mystery. The rock walls of the mine tunnels clearly show traces of drilling, and the mine veins inside are distinctly layered. The cave mainly contains minerals such as beryl, niobium-tantalum (manganese) ore, spodumene, mica, quartz, and feldspar. A tour of the mine offers a chance to experience the hardships of miners in the past and to feel the mystery and wonder of the underground world.

The Geological Exhibition Hall is the first museum in Xinjiang and the whole of China to focus primarily on rare metal minerals as exhibits. It houses the world’s only “Erqis Stone.” The exhibits cover the development history of corporate culture and premium mineral specimens, documenting the heroic years when veterans contributed to the nation, showcasing the development history of Xinjiang’s nonferrous metal industry, and promoting the entrepreneurial spirit and unity of people of all ethnicities in the early years of New China — their unyielding hard work, struggle, and dedication to repaying the country’s foreign debts. It serves as an important platform for patriotic and Xinjiang-loving education among people of all ethnic backgrounds.

To enrich travelers’ experiences, we specially recommend the Deep Reservoir Hydropower Station as an optional scenic spot for travel agencies.

Tour Route: Geological Exhibition Hall – (walk across the Soviet-style wooden bridge or take the shuttle bus) – No. 3 Vein Sacred Geological Pit – Aygos Mine (shuttle bus) – Deep Reservoir Hydropower Station (optional)

Tour Duration: 1–2 hours (excluding the hydropower station)