Zijin urges Colombia to protect gold mine after attack
Bloomberg News | May 31, 2023 

Buritica is located in the middle Cauca belt, in Colombia’s northwest. (Image courtesy of Zijin Continental Gold.)

China’s Zijin Mining Group is asking the Colombian government to retake control of the territory surrounding its Buritica gold mine after the operation suffered a new attack.


One worker was shot Monday, and on Tuesday vehicles were incinerated, prompting an evacuation of the gold mine in Antioquia province, the company said. That comes after two contract workers were killed and 14 other people were injured, including 4 members of the police, on May 17.

“Intervention in the Buritica mine is urgent,” Colombian unit Zijin-Continental Gold said in a statement posted on Twitter. “Illegal mining activities haven’t stopped and, on the contrary, have become more aggressive with the use of explosions, detonations and weapons.”

Miners aren’t the only ones suffering attacks. Earlier this year, an oil field-services trade group warned crude output will decline this year partly because of pipeline bombings and civil disorder.