The Gold Museum is Taiwan’s first museum planned as an eco-museum, the aim being to combine community power and completely preserve the precious natural resources, mining relics, landscape, historical memories and cultural property of Jinguashi, attempting to give them a new life. The various facilities and buildings of the museum display Jinguashi’s various resources using a catalogue method, aiming to guide visitors into the environment and allow them to experience the rich resources in the environment. Planning of the museum began in 2002.

It was formally opened on November 4, 2004. The aim and objectives of establishment were:

mission

1.Preserving and reproducing mining history and cultural features :

(1) Investigating and recording the historical memories of the Shuinandong area of Jinguashi, establishing a data bank and using it as the foundation for education promotion.

(2) Preserving cultural property and the settlement scenery textures.

2.Making the museum a natural venue for environmental education :natural resource research, natural sight preservation, original plant conservation, promotion of eco-tourism and nature education promotion.

3.Promoting gold art and metal crafts, establishing creative industry :Establishing of a gold knowledge related data bank, establishing of a metal crafts data bank, education promotion, metal crafts creative industry promotion, metal crafts talent training.    

4.Community eco-museum : forming consensus, encouraging local participation. In the museum’s property preservation-centered operations, there is a stress on sustainable operation and the recycling and re-use of original building materials. Local people are encouraged to become involved to stimulate area development. The operating model is the first of its kind in Taiwan and opens a new page for the development of cultural property protection and creativity.