(Yicai) July 24 -- Zhongjin Gold’s shares fell after six college students died during a visit to a processing plant owned by a unit of the Chinese precious metals company.

Zhongjin Gold [SHA: 600489] closed down 4.4 percent at CNY15.19 (USD2.12) a share in Shanghai today, after earlier plunging by as much as 8.1 percent.

The students from Northeastern University in Liaoning province were touring the processing plant operated by China Gold Inner Mongolia Mining, when a grating plate dislodged and they fell into a flotation tank and died despite efforts to rescue them, its Beijing-based parent company said today. One visiting teacher was also injured.

A flotation tank is a large container several meters deep that is used to separate metal-containing mineral particles from crushed ore. The tank contains a high‑density slurry of ore powder and chemical reagents, stirred by high‑speed impellers.

The cause of the accident may lie in inadequate safety inspections and emergency response drills at the plant, an industry expert told Yicai.

Zhongjin Gold, itself a subsidiary of state-owned China National Gold Group, mines, processes, and smelts gold and other non-ferrous metals.

Last year, Zhongjin Gold’s net profit rose 14 percent to CNY3.4 billion (USD475.4 million), thanks to surging gold prices, according to the company’s latest annual report. Revenue rose 7 percent to CNY65.6 billion (USD9.2 billion).

Gold Inner Mongolia Mining was founded in 2007 and is mainly responsible for developing the Wunugetushan Copper-Molybdenum Mine in Hulunbuir. It had a net profit of CNY2.3 billion last year, making it Zhongjin Gold’s best-performing subsidiary.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Futura Costaglione