It said in a statement that the incident occurred last Sunday in the southern pit in the Tabaco Creek area.

It reported that three armed men entered the premises and fired at the operator of a truck carrying 240 tons of coal. The shots hit the windows of the cabin and caused the driver minor injuries.

The attackers were apprehended by members of the Colombian Army, who guard the complex.

Sintracarbon said it believed the gunmen were members of a local guerrilla squad.

Mine equipment was also damaged by explosives in the same attack.

Cerrejon only recently resumed operations after a month-long labor strike and have already been plagued with problems.

Production was suspended last week after a bomb attack on the company’s rail line.

“Around 4.45am (local time), the train, which headed towards the coal port of Puerto Bolivar, was attacked with explosives ... which produced the derailment of 17 wagons,” Cerrejon officials told Reuters last week.

It is the second explosive attack in as many months for Cerrejon. Assailants blasted four work trucks at the company’s Mina Sur complex in Guajira Province during the strike action in February.

The company is a joint venture between Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Xstrata. It produced 34.3 million metric tons last year and is investing $US1.3 billion to ramp up to 40 million tons per annum by 2015.

Colombia is the world’s fourth-largest coal exporter, and Cerrejon is one of the Andean nation’s major players.