In May 2022, an environmental activist group, asserted China's Zijin Mining was allegedly polluting a village in Serbia without proper permits, local consent, or transparency. The group accuses Zijin Mining, which operates a large-scale copper mining and smelting complex in the city, of undertaking highly polluting investments without sufficient environmental and social due diligence. Since 2018, when Zijin Copper, a Chinese-owned company, took over the Bor smelter complex, the lives of residents in at least five nearby villages have reportedly been severely affected.

We invited Zijin Mining to comment on these allegations. The company provided a response in May 2023.

In late January, 2024, long-standing environmental grievances drive Krivelj villagers to block Zijin Mining's operations in Serbia, halting production and prompting government mediation.