Explosives tore into a Cerrejón coal train Tuesday evening, prompting Glencore (LON: GLEN) to suspend the railway that feeds its Colombian mine. “This is the sixth attack we have recorded this year against our infrastructure,” the company said in a statement.
The explosion struck close to Uribia, in La Guajira department in Colombia’s north. The company said no one was hurt and that mining activity is continuing normally even with the rail line down, adding that Colombian troops moved in the next morning to guard the site and inspect what had happened.
The railway runs 150 kilometers from the mine to the export terminal at Puerto Bolívar, making it Cerrejón’s only route to get coal to international buyers. Past disruptions have forced the mine to shut down entirely — and more than 80 separate blockades have already disrupted the site this year, most stemming from local anger at the government over inadequate basic services, not from any conflict with Glencore itself.
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How long repairs take will determine whether this latest attack becomes another full stoppage or just a short delay; Cerrejón ranks among the world’s biggest open-pit coal operations and mined 16.8 million tonnes in 2025.
Glencore shares traded up more than 5% in London the day the attack was disclosed, though the move tracked a broader rally across metals and mining stocks rather than reacting specifically to news from Cerrejón. Shares are up over 34% year to date.
