Mining in Taiwan

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

New Taipei

Mining has been practiced in Taiwan for hundreds of years. Sulfur was an early important resource collected on the island.[1] Coal mining expanded in the 19th century to keep up with demand from increased foreign trade. Heavy industry was further expanded under Japanese rule, but air raids towards the end of World War II decimated mining infrastructure, falling below 19th century production levels. Copper mining expanded in the mid-20th century, but ended in the 1980s following a global collapse in the price of copper.

Today, Taiwan produces cement, marble, gold, oil and natural gas. Mining activities in Taiwan are regulated by the

Bureau of Mines of the Ministry of Economic Affairs
.

History of mining

Coal mining map in Keelung in 1856

Pre-colonization the indigenous people of Taiwan traded sulfur from deposits around volcanic vents to Chinese merchants visiting from the continent.[2]

Chinese mining and

native peoples
.

Under the consent of the Fujian officials,

Tamsui and Beitou where he bought amorphous sulfur from local Aborigines for the making of pure sulfur. The expedition lasted ten months. This trip became the basis of one of the most important works about early Qing-era Taiwan, Small Sea Travel Diaries (裨海紀遊).[3]

As late as 1880, the only resources known to exist in economical quantities and locations were

volcanic northeastern third of the island. Mining was progressively developed by both the government and private sectors.[5]

After "Taiwan" (i.e.

Fuzhou Arsenal.[4] The high demand led to rampant smuggling and theft, to the point where the Qing government temporarily banned the trade to rein in its ill effects.[4] The Qing introduced modern coal mining to Taiwan in 1877, when they retained the British engineer Tyzack to open a 91 m (300 ft) shaft with modern machinery.[4]

Taiwan's heavy industry was developed by

Second World War, but US bombing—particularly after the Taiwan Air Battle in October 1944 gave the Americans air supremacy—devastated mining production. Although overall industry had declined only 33% from 1937 levels by the war's end, coal production had fallen from 200,000 metric tons (197,000 long tons; 220,000 short tons) to 15,000 metric tons (14,800 long tons; 16,500 short tons),[8] lower than the amount produced in the mid-1870s.[4]

Women were significant participants in the mining industry during the Japanese colonial period. The Empire of Japan was not a party to the Underground Work (Women) Convention, 1935. The Republic of China which took over in 1945 was a party to the convention but women continued to work in Taiwanese mines until 1963 when Soong Mei-ling intervened following an accident which killed multiple married couples.[9]

Coal mining largely ended by the 1990s due to a combination of repeated serious accidents and the low price of imported coal.[9]

Economy

As of 2013, mineral products accounted for 10% of Taiwan export value. The sector also employs 2,758 workforce.[10]

Types of mining

Aluminium

Taiwan consumed about 180,000 tonnes of aluminium alloy in 2013, in which it went to the electronics sector (41%), packing (26%), construction (9%), machinery (8%) and others (16%). The CS Aluminium Corp., subsidiary of China Steel Corporation, produced 167,000 tonnes of aluminium in 2010.[10]

Cement

Cement plant in Hualien County

Around 80% of Taiwan's cement are mined and produced in Eastern Taiwan. In 2013, the output capacity was 26 million tonnes per year. In that year, Taiwan produced 16 Mt of cement and consumed 12 Mt. Cement are exported to Ghana, Malaysia, Indonesia, Mauritius and Australia.[10] Cement mining in Taiwan is mostly done by Taiwan Cement or Asia Cement Corporation in which its plant in Hualien County contributes to nearly 29% of Taiwan's cement production.[11]

Former limestone mining site in Zuoying, Kaohsiung

Limestone mining was done in Zuoying District, Kaohsiung in an area what used to be a part of Mount Banping. In 1997, the mining activities ceased to operate. The abandoned site has now been turned into the Banping Lake Wetland Park for tourism by the Kaohsiung City Government.[12]

Coal

Coal is distributed mainly in northern Taiwan. All of the commercial coal deposits occurred in three

New Taipei has now been turned into the Taiwan Coal Mine Museum, while the one in Houtong has been turned into Houtong Cat Village.[14] There are 394 retired coal mines in Taiwan.[9]

Copper

New Taipei

Copper mining, as well as gold, used to take place in

New Taipei. In 1904, arsenic-copper sulfate mineral enargite was found at the No. 3 Mine in the area when miners dug deeper, increasing the amount of copper minerals discovered. From that moment, the focus of the mining in the area shifted from gold and silver to gold, silver, and copper. After the liberation of Taiwan in 1945, the state-run Taiwan Gold and Copper Mining Bureau was established in 1946 and renamed to Taiwan Metals Mining Company in 1955. As copper production gradually increased over the years, Jinguashi mining area are good and maintained excellent operating performance. However, after 1973, the gold and copper output began to decline. In order to increase the production, the company started large-scale open-pit mining in 1978 and shifted its focus to mineral refining and processing. To boost their mineral processing capabilities, the company took out bank loans in 1981 to build the Lile Copper Refinery in the area located at the Golden Waterfall today. Because of a collapse in the world copper price few years later, the company was unable to repay its loans and went out of business in 1987. The Taiwan Sugar Corporation assumed ownership of the land in Jinguashi and the mining in that area came to an end.[15]

Gold

Taiwan has four gold-bearing deposits with metal content estimated at 100 tonnes. Three of the deposits are concentrated in the central mountain range, while the fourth one is at

Gold Museum
. Quartz was often found at the same rate as gold.

Oil and gas

Chuhuangkeng former oilfield in Gongguan, Miaoli County
Taoyuan City

Kaohsiung City.[20]

Taiwan produces a small amount of

Kaohsiung City in the South China Sea through reflection seismology and sub-bottom profiling data.[22]

Marble

Taiwan has some of the largest marble reserves in the world, they were first exploited during the Japanese colonial period for construction and as feedstock in the production of cement, fertilizer, carbide, paper, and sugar. Wide scale exploitation followed the opening of the Keelung-Suao railway in 1923. With the completion of the Suao-Hualien highway in 1931 the market expanded to Taipei. The industry collapsed during the last years of World War Two. The KMT government supported the redevelopment of the Taiwanese marble industry with the

Vocational Assistance Commission for Retired Servicemen establishing both quarries and workshops for unemployed military retirees. Finished product exports in early years relied on low local wages to be competitive in the international market, in the 1960s an Italian marble ashtray cost $30 on the American market, a comparable Taiwanese product would cost $4 in America and $2 in Taiwan. Significant investments were made in improving the quality of final products and the skills of the craftsmen.[23] Hualien County is the center of the Taiwanese marble industry and is particularly known for its production of green serpentine and white marble.[24]

Energy usage

In 2014 the mining sector consumed a total of 474.4 GWh of electricity.[13]

Tourism

Sites for mining-related tourism in Taiwan include:

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ "Mining in Taiwan (ROC) - Overview". Mbendi.com. Archived from the original on 2013-07-13. Retrieved 2014-05-26.
  2. ^ "The Mountains of North Taiwan". topics.amcham.com.tw. Topics. 10 April 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  3. ^ "Ancient diary brings a personal touch to early Ching Formosa - Taipei Times". 16 March 2003.
  4. ^ a b c d e EB (1879), p. 416.
  5. ^ "Westernized Mining - 台灣大百科全書 Encyclopedia of Taiwan". Taiwanpedia.culture.tw. 2014-03-11. Archived from the original on 2014-05-28. Retrieved 2014-05-26.
  6. ^ Russian Treaty of Tianjin (1858), Art. 3.
  7. ^ French Treaty of Tianjin (1858), Art. 6.
  8. ^ "歷史與發展 (History and Development)". Taipower Corporation. Archived from the original on 2007-05-14. Retrieved 2006-08-06.
  9. ^ a b c Cottenie, Tyler. "Travel: Houtong's coal miners tell their story". taipeitimes.com. Taipei Times. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  10. ^ a b c "Taiwan [advance release]" (PDF). 2013 Minerals Yearbook. U.S. Geological Survey.
  11. ^ Kuo, Chia-erh (13 June 2017). "Asia Cement denies mine site in Hualien expanded". Taipei Times. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  12. ^ "A Symphony of Water and Green-Towards a Rebirth of Caogong Canal and a New Fragrant Waterfront Kaohsiung". Library.taiwanschoolnet.org. Retrieved 2014-05-28.
  13. ^ a b "Energy Statistical annual Reports". Bureau of Energy, Ministry of Economic Affairs.
  14. ^ "Coal Mining in Taiwan (ROC) - Overview". Mbendi.com. Archived from the original on 2015-10-17. Retrieved 2014-05-26.
  15. ^ "Historical background". Taiwan.gov.tw. Archived from the original on 2014-05-27. Retrieved 2014-05-27.
  16. ^ "Culture and Tourism Buresu of Miaoli - Taiwan Oil Field Exhibition Hall". Miaolitravel.net. 2012-12-20. Archived from the original on 2013-11-18. Retrieved 2014-05-26.
  17. ^ "ROC still digging hard to find more oil, gas". Taiwan Info. 4 October 1981. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014.
  18. ^ a b "U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)". eia.gov. Retrieved 2014-08-23.
  19. ^ "Oil and Gas in Taiwan (ROC) - Overview". mbendi.com. Archived from the original on 2014-06-10. Retrieved 2014-08-23.
  20. ^ "Taiwan to start oil exploration in S China Sea". Taipei Times. 2014-05-20. Retrieved 2014-05-26.
  21. ^ Chen, Kevin (30 July 2010). "CPC Corp, Taiwan finds gas reserves at old Miaoli well". Taipei Times.
  22. ^ Shardul. "Taiwan finds gas hydrates in South China Sea". naturalgasasia.com. Archived from the original on 8 May 2019. Retrieved 2014-08-23.
  23. ^ "Polished and Profitable". Taiwan Today. May 1964. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  24. ^ "About". www.hualienstone.org. Hualien International Stone Workshop. Retrieved 11 November 2020.

Bibliography