By Giselle Alzate | 2025-05-27

BOGOTA -- JCHX Mining Management Co., a Chinese firm long criticized for labor rights violations, has taken full control of the El Alacrán copper and gold project in rural Puerto Libertador, northwestern Colombia.

The company, which already held a 50% stake, announced on May 8 in Beijing that it had acquired the remaining half from Cordoba Minerals Corp., a Canadian mineral exploration firm.

JCHX agreed to pay up to $128 million for full ownership of the mine. Total investment in the project could reach $400 million, making El Alacrán the largest copper mine in Colombia once it becomes operational in 2026.

Annual output will reach 450 tons of copper, 700 ounces of gold and 6 million ounces of silver, mining industry watchers project.

Tensions over El Alacrán

The region surrounding the El Alacrán mine in Córdoba department has long suffered from violence, displacement and unresolved land claims. Artisanal miners, many of whom have lived there for generations, continue to demand recognition and access to the mining territory now under the control of JCHX.

For decades, guerrilla groups and paramilitary and organized crime networks have fought for control of this mineral-rich zone, leaving communities trapped in cycles of conflict. Many residents turned to artisanal mining as a means of survival.

Today, local miners are challenging the mining titles granted to JCHX, arguing that the state ignored their historical rights. International organizations and courts have repeatedly urged Colombian authorities to recognize these communities' ancestral ties to the land and to grant them legal ownership.

JCHX Mining Management Co., the Chinese company now expanding operations in Colombia, carries a troubling record of labor rights violations in Zambia, where it has operated for years.

In 2011, Human Rights Watch documented widespread abuses in mines run by Chinese firms, including JCHX. Zambian workers described exploitative working conditions that failed to meet both local laws and international labor standards.

The report highlighted poor health and safety practices, excessive working hours and a lack of proper protective equipment. Many workers said they faced threats of dismissal if they refused to work in unsafe conditions. Injuries were common but often went unreported.

Communities face environmental threat

While labor violations once defined the controversy surrounding JCHX, new concerns now center on the environmental damage and forced displacement that its mining project could bring to Córdoba department, where Indigenous and rural communities already face mounting threats.

Environmental defenders and residents near the El Alacrán mine warn that industrial mining could worsen deforestation, contaminate water sources and displace local communities that rely on artisanal mining.

"Permits granted for the construction of an industrial mining project in northern Colombia are raising concerns among residents and conservationists, who say they might lose their food and drinking water to unregulated pollution, causing them to relocate to other parts of the country," reported Mongabay, an environmental news outlet, last September.

Mining operations have already diverted rivers and streams and released mercury, used in mineral extraction, into nearby waters, locals say. Fish populations, including the bocachico (Prochilodus magdalenae), have declined, threatening the livelihoods of small-scale fishermen.

Without clean water or reliable food sources, critics argue that families will be forced to leave. "These communities are going to disappear, and they're going to disappear with very few resources," human rights advocate Adadier Perdomo told Mongabay.

Since 2015, multiple legal challenges have accused the El Alacrán project of violating the rights of Indigenous and traditional communities. Despite these efforts, mining operations have advanced, intensifying tensions between artisanal miners and authorities.