Taiwan’s second-largest coal mine after Ruisan Coal Mine (瑞三煤礦). First opened in 1915 by Yamamoto Yoshinobu (山本義信), it passed through several owners before the Li family of Ruifang purchased it in 1955. By 1970 it employed over 1,500 workers and was designated a model mine by the provincial mining bureau. On June 20, 1984, loose pins on a mine car caused it to strike a high-voltage line, igniting airborne coal dust; the explosion killed approximately 72 miners, most of them Amis Indigenous people (阿美族). This was the first of three major mining disasters in Taiwan that year, collectively sounding the death knell for the domestic coal industry. The mine closed in 1989 after extracting approximately 4.66 million tonnes. Nowadays the site is heavily overgrown and not easily accessible and most of the mine buildings have been demolished.
Warning: this location is abandoned, hazardous, or otherwise neglected and may be unsafe and even dangerous! Exercise appropriate precautions when visiting.
警告：此處已廢棄或長期無人管理，可能存在潛在危險。造訪時請務必提高警覺，並做好相關安全防護措施。
Map
Links
- Wikipedia in Chinese (中文維基百科)
- Taiwan Cultural Memory Bank (文化部國家文化記憶庫)
- Taiwan Cultural Memory Bank (文化部國家文化記憶庫)
- Taiwan Cultural Memory Bank (文化部國家文化記憶庫)
- Taiwanese Indigenous Peoples’ Encyclopedia (臺灣原住民族事典)
- Liberty Times (自由時報)
- YouTube: Mike (謎可)
Themes
- Japanese Colonial Era Taiwan (台灣日治時代)
- Shinto Shrines in Taiwan (台灣神社)
- Indigenous People of Taiwan (台灣原住民)
- Mining Industry in Taiwan (台灣礦業)
Nearby Locations
Author
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I am a web application developer, photojournalist, urban explorer, and history enthusiast passionate about the open web and documenting my experiences on this planet. This project was founded in the early 2010s and has evolved into a sort of personal Wikipedia of places that interest me (and often the photographs I’ve taken there). I’m originally from Toronto, Canada, but spend most of my time residing in Taiwan.