Noranda cuts proposed mining area

Noranda Bauxite has modified its Special Mining Licence (SML) 173 proposal to the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) for bauxite mining in sections of St Ann and Trelawny which will see agriculture and several communities in both parishes benefiting from reduced mining acreage.

At the second public mandatory meeting stipulated by NEPA held recently, Noranda, through its consultant, Dr Conrad Douglas of Conrad Douglas and Associates, which has responsibility for the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), revealed two significant changes.

The original area proposed for mining has been reduced by 25 per cent from 8,335 hectares to 6,226 hectares; and only 18 per cent of this reduced area will be mined.

A section of the original SML 173 has also been excluded from the modified proposal.

The area given up by Noranda, referred to as the clawed-back area, contains bauxite but there will be no mining there, Douglas said.

“The clawed-back area is the area in which intense agricultural activity takes place, so there will be no mining,” Douglas said, pointing out that there will now be no mining in Sawyers and Level Bottom in Trelawny.

“The clawed-back area has the following characteristics: hosts the largest declared forest reserves of the SML 173; grass covered bauxite bearing depressions (not forested); bauxite deposits in depressions between the hillocks; human settlements with residences made of reinforced concrete and modern material; contains roadways; several hillsides cleared for agricultural activities, and for obtaining yam sticks.”

The changes by Noranda to the original SML 173 will cause two significant impacts. Regarding the potential impact on communities, the original SML 173 would have potential impact on agriculture, while the modified document would see that potential impact being reduced to a minimum or being non-existent.

Regarding agriculture, the potential impact would again be reduced to minimal or non-existent.

“The entire clawed-back area is a mitigation decision and action,” Douglas pointed out.

The proposed mining area falls outside of the designated Cockpit Country protected area that includes sections of southern Trelawny, south-east St James, north-west St Elizabeth and northern Manchester.

It is proposed that mining activities will be undertaken in five-year cycles for 25 years, with the rate of dry bauxite production estimated as high as six million dry metric tonnes per annum.

“This has potential to earn about US$150m per year to the Jamaican economy,” Douglas pointed out.

The meeting, held to get public involvement in order to determine the EIA, had several comments from members of the public, with the most telling being from Roderick Miller of Gibraltar, St Ann, where mining is currently taking place.

Noting that COVID-19 has negatively impacted Jamaica’s economy, Miller asked: “If NEPA does not give the approval and sign the lease, what would happen? The Government has 51 per cent and the company has 49 per cent; what would happen if this bauxite company should come to a halt? What would we do, not just only in Gibraltar, but in the country at large?”

Delroy Dell, vice-president and general manager of Noranda, in acknowledging Miller’s comment, stated: “I think his concerns are very well founded and that’s why we’re here today. Without SML 173, our operations will shut down and it will create a huge deficit both in the parish and nationally. Without SML 173 we won’t have a facility.”

Dell had earlier outlined the importance of Noranda to the Jamaican economy, revealing that the company contributes some US$84 million annually in the form of salaries and wages, contractor services and procurement of local supplies.

“There is also a recurrent spend of about US$300,000 in community projects,” he said, adding that the company employs over 1,000 persons directly and another 2,000 indirectly.

Dell said Noranda will be constructing 80 greenhouses over the next two years to assist farmers in Retreat, after having built 136 to assist farmers in other areas of St Ann over the past few years.

He said Noranda will also be constructing a 40-million-gallon water storage facility to provide water for use by farmers.

carl.gilchrist@gleanerjm.com