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Armed men have attacked a Mexican mine owned by Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. of Toronto and stolen an unspecified amount of gold, adding to recurring concerns about the level of violence that faces miners operating in the country.
A security guard suffered a minor leg injury in the attack early Tuesday, but the La India mine in northwestern Sonora state is now back to normal operations, Agnico said in a news release. It declined further comment.
The theft echoes a similar incident last year in which heavily armed men stole 900 kilograms of gold-bearing concentrate, containing about 7,000 ounces of gold, from the El Gallo 1 mine in northwestern Sinaloa state. McEwen Mining Inc. of Toronto, the owner of the mine, estimated the stolen concentrate – enough to fill the back of a heavy-duty pickup truck – was worth about $8-million (U.S.).
Recent attacks have not just been directed at Canadian miners. Fresnillo PLC, a Mexican precious-metals producer, acknowledged this past August that thieves had stolen 4.5 kilograms of gold and silver, worth about $165,000, from its Herradura mine in Sonora.
Some miners have encountered far worse consequences. Four Mexican employees of Goldcorp Inc. of Vancouver went missing last year after leaving the company’s Los Filos mine in southwestern Guerrero state. Three of the four were later found dead.
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