Jinguashi (Chinese: 金瓜石) is a town in Ruifang District, (瑞芳區) New Taipei City (新北市), Taiwan. Jinguashi is notable for its historic gold mines. After the minerals depleted, Jinguashi has been renovated to Gold Ecological Park (黃金博物園), still attracts many visitors.
Benshan No.5 Tunnel (本山五坑) is located on the mountainside of Benshan (本山), with an altitude of about 295 meters, it is the most well preserved mining tunnel in Benshan.
Benshan No.5 Tunnel has been rebuilt into a museum. Before entering the tunnel, tourists must wear safety helmets.
The machines and facilities used for gold mining in the past still remain, allowing visitors to experience how the miners work in the mining tunnel.
The name of Benshan No.5 Tunnel comes from the Benshan Vein, which is located in Jinguashi Mountain and extends over 2,000 meters from north to south. Benshan Vein is the main gold-copper vein of ore in Jinguashi.
There are many plastic models placed in the tunnel to simulate different stages of mining work, and the loudspeaker will broadcast sound effects from time to time, simulating the situation of blasting rocks and workers singing, which is very realistic.
United States Navy analysis during World War II found that the Kinkaseki gold mines were among Imperial Japan's largest sources of gold, based on figures from 1937.
