Colombia's AG calls for Buritica action to stem violence
Colombia’s Attorney General has called on the ministers of Defense and Interior, as well as the national government and state agencies to take measures to deescalate a rising tide of violence by criminal miners at Zijin Mining’s Buritica gold mine in Antioquia.
Armed criminal miners have undertaken repeated attacks since July with improvised explosive devices and gunfire against Zijin's operations to force their way into the Buritica mine to illegally mine and steal its gold resources. Consequently, Zijin's workers have had to add bullet-proof jackets to their personal safety equipment. They move under armed escort and some of the mine's underground mining fleet have been armoured to protect workers.
An attack with an explosive device in May killed two mine workers and injured 14.
"The impact on public order and, particularly, the actions of illegal mining in the Buriticá tunnels does not cease. This situation has been critical and occurs daily, with no reaction from the institutions yet," the company said.
The Attorney General has now requested the administration of President Gustavo Petro for a report on the measures it will take to ensure order and public safety.
Invasion
Zijin began production from the 200,000ozpa Buritica gold mine in late 2023 after acquiring the junior developer Continental Gold. The company has been planning upgrades to increase production to 240,000ozpa of gold. It has also added a base metals recovery circuit to produce 600tpa of copper and 5000tpa of zinc.
However, its high-grade reserves of 3.71Moz grading 8.4gpt have long been a magnet for criminal miners. While state agencies intervened in April 2016, they stopped short of clearing out the criminal miners, whose number has steadily increased.
Worse for Zijin, for many years, the invaders at Buritica have long been seeking formalisation, claiming they are traditional miners, which the current and previous governments have given a sympathetic ear to.
To be clear, there is nothing artisanal or traditional to the efforts of the criminal miners in Buritica, which are believed to be backed by the Clan de Golfo criminal organisation.
The battle for Buritica is taking place some 600m underground to control the Yaragua and Veta Sur vein systems, with hundreds of explosive detonations each month as the criminals seek to penetrate the mine. It is believed that two of the three main access tunnels into the Buritica deposit are occupied by criminal miners, reported local media.
The gold theft to date is estimated to be at least 2t of yellow metal.
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