(Yicai Global) May 19 -- Shares of Zijin Mining, one of China’s largest gold and copper producers, said a bomb attack on a gold mine of its Colombian unit killed two people and injured 14 others.

Zijin [SHA: 601899] ended 1.9 percent lower at CNY10.89 (USD1.55) in Shanghai today, while its Hong Kong shares [HKG: 2899] fell 0.7 percent to HKD11.32 (USD1.45).

The bombing was carried out by a local organization of illegal miners, the Fujian province-based company said today, citing the results of a preliminary investigation. Zijin also expressed its condolences to the families of the victims.

Zijin condemned the attack, saying it was a severe criminal act targeting the international mining industry. It called on the authorities to step up crackdown on illegal mining-related violence to protect the employees of companies that invest in Colombia.

The incident will likely affect the short-term operations of Continental Gold, Zijin’s Colombian unit, its parent company noted.

Continental Gold had assets worth about CNY8.2 billion (USD1.2 billion) at the end of last year, accounting for 2.7 percent of Zijin total. It had revenue and net profit of CNY3 billion and CNY211 million (USD30 million), making up 1.1 percent and 0.9 percent of Zijin’s totals.

Zijin mined 877,300 tons of copper and 563,600 tons of gold in 2022, up 49 percent and 19 percent, respectively, from the previous year. It had revenue of CNY270.3 billion (USD38.4 billion) and a CNY30 billion net profit, up 21 percent.

On May 14, a lift cage fell at a mine run by a Zijin unit, leaving six employees of a sub-contractor missing, according to a statement issued the following day.

Editor: Futura Costaglione