Zijin halts work at Colombia gold mine after homemade bomb attack

BOGOTA, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Zijin Mining 601899.SS has paused production at its Buritica gold mine in Colombia after assailants armed with homemade bombs damaged a key power source, the company said on Saturday.

The attack occurred early Friday when the armed group broke into the site, which is the largest gold mine in Colombia, located in a rural area of the Antioquia province where road blocks and attacks by illegal miners are frequent.

No injuries were reported. Zijin attributed the incident to illegal miners who it said sought to obtain gold from the mine.

"High-powered homemade bombs were thrown at our underground facilities, causing severe destruction of the electrical substation and rendering the backup power source unusable," Zijin Continental Gold, the local unit of China-based Zijin, said in a statement released on Saturday.

The attack also disrupted ventilation and drainage systems, Zijin said.

Buritica produced 8.3 tons of gold in 2023, according to the company. Previous attacks by illegal miners have also affected operations at the mine.

Colombia's Mining Association said the attack was not an isolated incident, and pointed to three other attacks at mines in various parts of Colombia in the last month.

"This is evidence of a pattern of systematic violence to control resources and perpetuate illegality," the group said in a statement.

(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta, Writing by Daina Beth Solomon; editing by Diane Craft)

((daina.solomon@thomsonreuters.com;))