Suichang Gold Mine is the most typical representative of more than 200 ancient silver (gold) mining sites and more than 20,000 ancient mining adits in southwest Zhejiang, and it is called "Yongfeng Silver Field" in history. Huangyan pit ancient cave is the largest known one of these ancient caves, and it has preserved a large number of ancient exploration and mining relics since the Tang Dynasty. Especially precious is the Miscellaneous Notes of Liyuan in the middle of Ming Dynasty, which records the mining and smelting technology of silver mines in southwest Zhejiang in detail. Both of them can confirm each other, which makes Huangyan Pit not only an empirical study of the highly developed mining and metallurgy technology in ancient China, but also an annotation and supplement to the famous historical books that record these technologies with actual remains and records, such as Wu Kai in Tiangong. It is of great significance to the study of the history of world mining and metallurgy science and technology.
1, mining and smelting has a long history. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the State of Yue mined, smelted copper and cast weapons in the southwest of Zhejiang. According to the determination of carbon 14, Suichang gold mine began to mine gold as early as the Tang Dynasty, which is the earliest known underground mining site of vein gold mine in the world. From the Song Dynasty to the late Ming Dynasty, mining in various dynasties was intermittent.
2, the scale is grand. The largest old cave in Suichang Gold Mine is over 654.38+10,000 cubic meters, which is the largest underground gold mining cave known in this area. During Li Yong and Xuande in Ming Dynasty, it was once the largest mining and silver producing area in China and even the world.
3. Advanced exploration, mining and smelting technologies. According to the preliminary field investigation, the ancient prospecting technology of Suichang Gold Mine is very advanced, which can be confirmed by historical documents and has high research value in the history of science and technology. According to the preliminary judgment of relevant researchers from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of China Academy of Sciences, Suichang Gold Mine was mined by burning and blasting in ancient times. The burning and blasting method has a history of more than 2,000 years in China. In Qin dynasty, it was used to dig the bottle mouth of Dujiangyan, and in Tang dynasty, it was used to dig the column of Longmen. The remains of burning and blasting method in Suichang Gold Mine are the only reported evidence of ancient burning and blasting method in China, which has precious historical and cultural value. According to documents, Suichang Gold Mine was smelted by soot blowing in ancient times, and the pelletizing and sintering process was not invented by Germans until the modern metallurgical industry 19 1 1 year. The ancient smelting remains of Suichang Gold Mine are of great value to the study of ancient metallurgical history. However, the soot blowing smelting process has been used until modern times and plays an irreplaceable role in the reproduction of modern metallurgical technology.
4. Recorded the precious history of mining management in Ming Dynasty. Suichang gold mine is very representative in the pit metallurgy of ancient silver mines in China. All kinds of historical books, mainly the Miscellaneous Notes of Liyuan, recorded the output of silver mining, mining administration and mining and metallurgy technology in southwest Zhejiang in detail, recorded the major events of mining administration in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, and recorded the political attitude and activities of Tang Xianzu, a famous historical and cultural figure, towards oppressive mining administration. It is of great value to study the mining administration in Ming Dynasty and its relationship with society, politics, economy, culture and military affairs, and it is a precious historical material in the history of ancient mining administration in China.
5. The value of world cultural heritage. The ancient mining and smelting site of Suichang Gold Mine is a precious heritage of ancient mining history in China and belongs to the category of industrial heritage in the world cultural heritage. Experts and scholars from Peking University World Heritage Center spoke highly of it, and the soot blowing smelting process that continues to this day belongs to the category of intangible cultural heritage.
The ancient mining and smelting site of Suichang Gold Mine is a precious cultural heritage in the history of mining science and technology in China and an important part of ancient civilization in China. Because this field has not attracted enough attention and the research and excavation work is still very weak, it is urgent to carry out multidisciplinary comprehensive research from the aspects of history and culture, archaeology and mining technology. 2010165438+1October 25th, the Chinese wedding gold jewelry fashion classic exhibition sponsored by China Gold Industry Association was held in Shanghai Exhibition Hall. At the exhibition, the exhibition "How Ancient Gold was Tempered" launched by Suichang Gold Mine National Mine Park became one of the main highlights of the exhibition.
Since the discovery of the "Large-scale Tang Golden Cave" in Suichang, Zhejiang Province in May 2008, scientific research units and institutions such as Suichang Gold Mine National Park, China Academy of Sciences and Peking University have conducted a lot of in-depth and detailed research on how the ancients mined gold in vein gold mines, and obtained preliminary research results.
Suichang Gold Mine National Park is located in Suichang County, Lishui City, Zhejiang Province, with a total area of 33.6 square kilometers, including 6.3 square kilometers of core scenic spots. Mining and metallurgy in the mining area has a long history, many mining and metallurgy relics and rich cultural accumulation. Mining and smelting activities had been carried out in Shang Yuan period of Tang Dynasty (AD 67 1-675). Yongfeng Silver Field was founded in Song Dynasty. During Yongle and Xuande of Ming Dynasty, it was the largest mining and silver producing area in China. Among them, the "Jintang Daidong" ancient mine cave is large in scale, well preserved and rich in literature records. Tang Xianzu, a famous dramatist in Ming Dynasty, presided over the last mining activity in the ancient mining area and resigned because he opposed the tyrannical mining policy. National heroes Qi Jiguang and Wen Tianxiang, contemporary dramatist Tian Han and poet Yu Dafu all left traces or legends in the mining area. The southwest of Zhejiang, where Suichang Gold Mine National Mine Park is located, has been one of the important metal mineral areas in ancient China since the Spring and Autumn Period, and has a long history of mining and smelting copper, silver and gold. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period, the State of Yue mined and smelted copper and cast weapons in southwest Zhejiang.
Suichang gold mine is the most typical representative of more than 200 ancient silver (gold) mine sites in southwest Zhejiang. Huangyan pit ancient cave is the largest known one of these ancient caves, and it has preserved a large number of ancient exploration and mining relics since the Tang Dynasty. The largest old cave in Suichang Gold Mine is over 654.38+10,000 cubic meters, which is the largest underground gold mining cave known in this area.
Research shows that ancient miners mainly used a process called "combustion and blasting" to mine gold in hard gold ore. The so-called "combustion and explosion method" is to build a simple stove under the hard ore, burn it violently with first-class charcoal fire, and then pour cold water on the ore after heating, so that the ore will crack under the action of thermal expansion and cold contraction, which is convenient for mining.
Ancient alchemy mainly went through five processes:
1. The first process is grinding: first, put the ore into a water hammer, crush the large ore by hydraulic action, and then grind it into powder with a stone mill.
2. The second process is panning. That is, the ore powder is washed with water to remove the part that does not contain ore, leaving a powder containing more gold and silver, which is called concentrate powder in jargon.
3. The third process is called granulation and sintering. That is, the powder containing gold and silver is mixed with rice to make pellets, which are layered with charcoal to remove sulfur from sulfide and sintered into brittle ore pellets.
The fourth process is called lead reduction smelting. Lead in the ore mass is mixed and melted, and chemical replacement is carried out to form lead blocks containing gold and silver.
5. The fifth process is called blowing. That is, lead blocks containing gold and silver are smelted on plant ash, and oxygen is blown in to remove lead from the lead blocks. Blowing off the grass ash can harvest high-purity gold and silver.
The "explosion" mining and "soot blowing" smelting adopted in ancient times are of great significance to the study of the history of ancient mining and metallurgy technology. The burning and blasting method has a history of more than 2,000 years in China. In Qin dynasty, it was used to dig the bottle mouth of Dujiangyan, and in Tang dynasty, it was used to dig the column of Longmen. The remains of the explosion method in Suichang Gold Mine are the only on-site evidence of the explosion method in ancient China, which has precious historical and cultural value. It is worth mentioning that the modern metallurgical industry was not invented by the Germans until 19 1 1. Soot blowing smelting process has been used until modern times and plays an irreplaceable role in production. The ancient books in the mining area recorded the mining and smelting technology of the silver mine in southwest Zhejiang, which made Huangyan Pit not only an empirical study of the highly developed mining and smelting technology in ancient China, but also explained and supplemented the shortcomings of historical masterpieces such as Tiangong Wu Kai with actual remains and records, which is of great significance to the study of the history of mining and smelting technology in the world.