Zijin Mining has halted operations at its Buriticá gold mine in Colombia after a bombing attack by illegal miners killed two people and injured another 14, including four national police officers.
Continental Gold, the Chinese miner’s local subsidiary that operates the mine, has triggered its emergency response plan, which included an urgent underground rescue effort, Zijin said.
Thousands of illegal miners work in sometimes deadly conditions in dozens of informal tunnels in the municipality of Buritica, in northwestern Antioquia province, including many close to or within Zijin’s concession.
The terrorist attack on the mine and Colombian police officers is a “serious crime against the international mining industry,” Zijin said on Friday.
It added it was “deeply shocked and outraged by the attack,” which took place at the mine’s Higabra tunnel.
The company, China’s No. 1 gold producer, said operations at Buritica, remained suspended on Friday as authorities conduct an investigation on the incident.
Zijin acquired the mine in late 2019 from Canada’s Continental Gold, in which it has a 69.3% interest, in a $1.4-billion deal.
The operation already had a tracked record of deadly attacks on personnel and other security concerns.
The mine churned out 196,493 oz. of gold and 294,581 oz. of silver in 2021 and has reserves of 3.7 million oz. of gold.
After an underway expansion, the mine’s production capacity is expected to increase from 3,000 tonnes to 4,000 tonnes per day. Annual gold production is slated to jump from 7.8 tonnes to 9.1 tonnes.
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