Zijin in Bor and Majdanpek: pollution, relocations and workers

Category: Land, water and workers

Period: from Aug 2018

This pattern tracks air and river pollution, construction and excavation without permits, worker deaths and working conditions in Bor and Majdanpek since Zijin took over 63 percent of the Mining and Smelting Combine Bor in 2018. Of the twelve cases, Zijin has been convicted in three, each time with a fine. According to RERI, it was fined below the legal minimum five times for illegal construction, and inspections have not stopped work going ahead without permits. Five cases are under investigation, among them the deaths of two workers, and residents of Krivelj are still waiting for the relocation they were promised.

Takeover of RTB Bor

This pattern tracks what Zijin (Zijin Mining) is doing in Bor and Majdanpek and how courts, prosecutors and inspectors are responding: air and river pollution, construction and excavation without permits, worker deaths and injuries, and working conditions. Each case, with its own timeline and sources, is listed below.

In December 2018, Zijin took over 63% of the Bor Mining and Smelting Basin for $350 million; the strategic partnership agreement has not been published in full.

Pollution and rulings

Until the smelter was reconstructed in 2022, sulphur dioxide levels exceeded the limits many times over, and since 2023 the problem has been arsenic and cadmium.

Of the twelve cases, Zijin has been convicted in three, each time with a fine. The most recent is a first-instance verdict handed down by the Bor Basic Court in October 2026, on a complaint filed by RERI, for pollution between November 2019 and November 2020. The company was fined one million dinars and the responsible person received a ten-month suspended sentence. The verdict is not final. For the pollution of the Mali Pek river, the prosecutor's office applied the principle of opportunity.

Investigations and working conditions

Indictments have been filed in two cases, and five are under investigation, among them the deaths of two workers in 2024 and 2025. According to Vreme, the public has not been told the results of the investigations into the 2024 accidents.

The Ministry of Labour and the Centre for the Protection of Victims of Human Trafficking did not say whether they had looked into working conditions after the decision by US Customs, and the Bor prosecutor's office has not received a complaint about the alleged forced labour.

Construction without permits

According to RERI, Zijin was convicted seven times in three years for illegal construction, five times with a penalty below the legal minimum, and inspectors neither suspended operations nor stopped work being done without permits.

Krivelj and relocation

Residents of Krivelj have been waiting more than ten years for the collective relocation they were promised in 2021, while the open pits have reached their houses, school and cemetery. UN special rapporteurs have described the Bor region as a "sacrifice zone".

Participants

Serbia Zijin Copper (formerly RTB Bor): It took over RTB Bor in 2018, promising to keep 5,000 jobs and invest $136 million in environmental protection (responsible)
Zijin Mining Group (Ziđin Majning Grup): It took over RTB Bor in 2018 by paying $350 million; it promised 5,000 jobs and $136 million for environmental protection (responsible)
Aleksandar Antić: He announced that Zijin had been chosen and signed the contract for the takeover of RTB Bor; in 2020 he said Zijin had “shown a high degree of responsibility” (commented on the case)
Zorana Mihajlović: In 2021 she said the “Jama” mine had been closed to protect the environment and announced that all residents of Krivelj would be relocated (commented on the case)
Irena Vujović: She agreed an action plan against pollution with Zijin, and after a site visit said the situation was “noticeably better” (commented on the case)
Aleksandar Vučić: In 2021 he demanded that Zijin deliver clean air in Bor by the end of the year; in 2026 he said he would “beg” it over concentrate containing arsenic (commented on the case)
Government of the Republic of Serbia: It allowed Zijin to split its project near Krivelj and so avoid an impact assessment of the whole, and the Administrative Court annulled that decision (responsible)
Ministry of Environmental Protection: On 29 April 2022, two days after workers died, it gave its approval to the study for a larger smelter, when work was already under way (responsible)
Ministry of Mining and Energy of the Republic of Serbia: In 2022 it backed relocating the entire village of Krivelj; according to CORE, the mining inspectorate never visited the damaged cemetery (responsible)
Environmental Protection Agency: It said there were no sulphur dioxide exceedances after the new smelter was built in 2023 (oversight and the public)
Labour Inspectorate: It found that Zijin had not assessed the risks of the killed worker's job or of heavy metals, and filed a misdemeanour charge (oversight and the public)
Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs (Labour Inspectorate): It did not answer whether it had looked into working conditions at Zijin Copper after the US customs order (commented on the case)
City of Bor: Under review by the Protector of Citizens over about 40 Roma households on the edge of the pit, with no alternative housing or relocation plans (commented on the case)
Jinshan Construction (part of Zijin): According to workers' messages, it kept the Chinese workers it hired in overcrowded, unheated containers, working 250 hours a month (responsible)
Zijin Construction: According to the family of a worker seriously injured at the Jama mine in 2024, people from the company threatened them not to tell the media or sue the firm (responsible)
Hongda Linšao: Contractor at the Jama mine, where one of its Chinese workers was killed on the night of 26 to 27 June 2025 (commented on the case)
Commercial Court in Zaječar: It imposed three fines for pollution in 2019–2020 and, following a complaint by RERI, a fine of two million dinars for construction without permits (investigation and courts)
Administrative Court: Annulled the Government's decision allowing Zijin to separate the project near Krivelj from the impact assessment (investigation and courts)
Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Negotin: Acting on a complaint from RERI over pollution of the Mali Pek river, it applied the principle of opportunity and, instead of prosecuting, ordered Zijin and its director to pay a million dinars each (responsible)
Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Zaječar: According to a RERI statement, it filed charges over mining next to houses in Krivelj without permits (investigation and courts)
Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Bor: Acting on a complaint over workplace safety, it ordered information to be gathered, according to RERI's lawyer (investigation and courts)
Zoran Pašalić: On 19 May 2026, launched an inquiry into the Bor city administration over Roma households on the edge of the pit (oversight and the public)
Protector of Citizens (Ombudsman): On 19 May 2026, launched an inquiry into the Bor city administration over around 40 Roma households on the edge of the old pit (oversight and the public)
Renewables and Environmental Regulatory Institute (RERI): The Administrative Court upheld its lawsuit and annulled the Government's decision that separated Zijin's overburden disposal project (oversight and the public)
Young Researchers of Bor: It warned that there were four days of dangerous sulphur dioxide levels in the first quarter of 2022, and that arsenic and cadmium levels have been rising since April 2023 (oversight and the public)
CORE Platform for Social Development and Innovation: Said Zijin's works had reached houses, the school and the cemetery in Krivelj, with no safe distance (oversight and the public)
Eko straža: She reported that around 200 smelter workers had lead levels in their blood up to nine times above the permitted limit (oversight and the public)
China Labor Watch: Since 2022 it has spoken with more than 100 Zijin workers; those findings formed the basis of the petition to US Customs (oversight and the public)
UN Human Rights Council (independent experts): On 8 August 2025 the rapporteurs wrote to Serbia and Zijin, calling the Bor region a „sacrifice zone“ (oversight and the public)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP): On 16 June 2026 it issued a withhold release order on Zijin copper over six indicators of forced labour (oversight and the public)
Basic Court in Bor: At first instance it convicted Zijin and its responsible officer over pollution in Bor in 2019–2020; the verdict is not final (investigation and courts)

Victims and others harmed

Saša Jovanjika