Page 110 - JCAU-7-2

Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Heritage and development of Tonglushan mine site

Figure 4. View of the mining company and miners’ community. Source:
Photos by the author (2016)

mined around the site, even hollowing out and collapsing
part of the museum wall.” Furthermore, city and provincial
Figure 3. Map of the Tonglushan Ancient Copper Mine Site Museum news often reported ground cracks and fissures at the
before 2010. Source: Drawing by the author Tonglushan Ancient Copper Mine Site Museum. Reports
described “the most severe collapse area measures over
While some miners recalled visiting the site museum 20 m in length and 1.2 m in depth,” while “the surrounding
during their childhood, sometimes as part of school rock of the ancient mine site also collapsed, causing cracks
assignments, local children were also known to climb over in the roofs of the site museum, staff quarters, and other
the wall to play. However, the museum’s most frequent buildings, along with numerous fissures in the exhibition
visitors were public officials from various government hall that resulted in broken display cabinets” (Zhang &
units. Few ordinary residents from the County were willing Chen, 2008).
to pay for admission. According to records, “from 2002 Experts identified two main causes for the site’s
to 2006, the average annual number of tourists visiting structural damage. First, investigations revealed that the
the Tonglushan Ancient Copper Mine Site Museum was prolonged exposure of the open-pit mining slope on the
12,000” (THUPDI, 2011, p. 7), resulting in limited ticket west side of Tonglushan left unaddressed, led to ongoing
revenue and minimal income from the souvenir shop. deformation. This accelerated deformation of the slope
From the 1990s to the early 21 century, the work at the directly contributed to the ground cracks at the ancient
st
site museum mainly focused on adhering to the protection mine site. Second, frequent and complex mining activities
scope defined in official documents and ensuring the safety in recent years (including both open-pit and underground
of the heritage within the museum walls. In the meantime, mining) were exacerbated by illegal and cross-border
China’s reform and opening-up process accelerated, mining, further accelerating slope and ground deformation
culminating in the country’s admission to the World Trade (Liu et al., 2014).
Organization. This milestone spurred the exploitation of As a result, on July 1, 2007, the site museum closed for
underground mineral resources in the Tonglushan area for 3 years of renovations. At the same time, the Tonglushan
integration into the global metal market, resulting in rapid ancient copper mine site was removed from China’s
and intense changes in the surrounding landscape beyond tentative list for potential inclusion as a World Cultural
the museum walls. Heritage site.

Due to the demands of mining production, many Beyond the challenges faced by the weak site museum
ancient relics outside the site museum were destroyed. infrastructure, companies and local residents primarily
While the ore bodies preserved within the museum focused on rapidly extracting economic benefits from the
walls remain intact, “the ancient relics discovered in the underground mine. According to statistics, the number of
ore bodies of I, II, III, IV, XI, and Xiaoyanyinshan were ore mined in 2007 decreased by 45.9% compared to 2001,
mined into a vast open-pit mine, measuring 1,605 m in largely influenced by market prices (DLCC, 2014). After
length from north to south, 570 m in width from east to 40 years of intensive mining, the region’s mineral resource
west, with a maximum depth of 94 m, and a surface area reserves have been sharply depleted. Estimates suggest that
of 641,060 sqm” (Chen &Wu, 2014, p. 22). In addition the remaining resources can sustain mining operations for
to state-owned mining enterprises, numerous village- fewer than 9 years (Zou, 2009). Consequently, numerous
run operations and private mining factories engaged in underground mining areas, subsidence zones, and heavy
the metal mining industry (Figure 4). A former museum metal pollution sites have emerged, contaminating the soil
employee recounted, “Around 2001, nearby villagers and nearby water bodies. These environmental challenges,

Volume 7 Issue 2 (2025) 6 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.4898