Tonglushan Ancient Copper Mine Site

　　A Western Zhou to Han Dynasty mining site, located 3 km northwest of Daye City, Hubei Province. Central geographic coordinates: 114°56′ east longitude, 30°05′ north latitude. The site covers an area of approximately 2.5 million square meters. The surface is covered with ancient copper smelting slag several meters thick, weighing about 400,000 tons, making it an important ancient copper mining site in China.

　　Tonglushan, according to the Qing-era "Daye County Annals," states: "The mountaintop is flat and high, with huge rocks standing opposite each other. Whenever a sudden rain passes, copper verdigris, resembling snowflakes and small beans, dots the soil and rocks, hence the name." The site was discovered in 1973 during open-pit mining operations by the Tonglushan Mine of Daye Nonferrous Metals Company. Most of the ancient mine shafts were located within the alteration and fracture zones of granodiorite porphyry and marble. From 1973 to 1979, multiple excavations uncovered hundreds of vertical, inclined, and blind shafts, as well as over a hundred large and small horizontal tunnels of various structures and support techniques from the Western Zhou to Han Dynasties. Mines from the Western Zhou to the Spring and Autumn periods had depths of about 20–30 meters from the surface, with shaft and tunnel sections typically 0.6 meters square, using spaced mortise-and-tenon square frame supports. Shaft walls and tunnel sides were often reinforced with wooden planks, and horizontal tunnels were roofed with wooden boards. Mines from the Warring States to Han Dynasties reached depths of about 40–50 meters, with shaft and tunnel sections generally 0.8 meters square. Vertical shafts used overlapping square frame supports, while tunnels were sealed with wooden sticks and bamboo mats. Eight copper smelting furnaces from the Spring and Autumn period were also unearthed. The furnace bodies were constructed from red clay, quartz sand, iron ore powder, and kaolin, standing about 1.5 meters tall, and consisted of a furnace base, hearth, and body. The furnace base was located below the contemporary ground surface, with a “一”-shaped or “丁”-shaped air channel in the middle. The hearth, above the base, was oval-shaped, about 0.2 square meters in area, with a gold gate on one side. The furnace body had blast air inlets, with walls 0.4 meters thick. Around the furnaces, remains of workshops, stone anvils, stone balls, and other ore-crushing tools, as well as processed ores and copper blocks, were found. Over 1,000 artifacts were excavated from the site, including production tools such as copper axes, copper adzes, iron axes, iron hammers, iron hoes, wooden shovels, wooden mallets, wooden pulleys, and boat-shaped wooden buckets, as well as pottery and wooden daily utensils.

　　The Tonglushan Ancient Copper Mine Site is of great antiquity, has a long continuity, boasts a massive production scale, is remarkably well-preserved, and is extremely rich in content. Its advanced mining methods, rational furnace structures, and low copper content in slag all reflect the achievements of mining technology at the time.

　　In 1982, it was designated as part of the third group of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level by the State Council.

　　Address: Tonglushan Ancient Copper Mine Site, Daye City, Huangshi

　　Type: Historical Site

　　Recommended Visit Duration: About 1 hour

　　Opening Hours:

　　8:00–17:00

　　Ticket Information:

　　Gate Price: 20.0 RMB