The Nulasai Copper Mine Site is situated in the Tianshan Nulasai Valley on the northern slope of the Awulale Mountain, on the south bank of the Kashgar River, approximately 3 kilometres south of Nileke County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It dates back to the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods, with a history of 2,600 to 2,400 years.

The site consists of the Yuantoushan Ancient Copper Mine and the Nulasai ancient mining and smelting ruins. Open-pit mining pits and large stone implements were unearthed at Yuantoushan. More than ten collapsed vertical shafts have been discovered in the Nulasai mining area. The shaft openings are roughly 5 metres square, and some shafts reach a depth of around 20 metres with a width of about 5 metres. Abundant ore as well as round and oblong stone hammers were found around the openings and inside the shafts. The smelting site occupies relatively flat ground within the Nulasai Valley.

As the earliest mining and metallurgical site discovered in Xinjiang, Nulasai reflects fairly advanced technological standards in terms of production procedures, smelting temperatures, slag and steel ingots. It provides crucial physical evidence for studying the origin and development of early iron-smelting techniques in Xinjiang, China.