Jinguashi Geopark (Benshan Mine) Introduction
The Benshan Mine is an important gold mining area in Jinguashi. In the 19th year of the Guangxu Emperor (1893 CE), gold panners from Keelung discovered a small gold vein in Jiu Fen while tracing the Keelung River upstream from Houtong. The following May, a major gold vein was found at Dajinguashi. The exposed rock appeared to be shaped like a gold melon, thus earning the name "Jinguashi." The vertical distribution of the Benshan vein stretches from the peak of Dajinguashi, at an altitude of 600 meters, down to 130 meters below sea level, where it remains unbroken. The gold content throughout the vein is uniform, with the widest sections reaching over 100 meters, while some veins exceed 2 kilometers in length, and many shorter segments are also just a few hundred meters long, making it a significant gold deposit in Jinguashi. Besides abundant gold, a discovery of arsenic copper ore was made in Benshan Sankeng in April 1904. Originally, the peak of Jinguashi Mountain was 660 meters high, but after more than a century of mining, it has been reduced by 106 meters to the same level as Sankeng (about 500 meters above sea level). Due to open-pit mining, the geological features are now clearly exposed, making it a ready-made outdoor geological classroom.
