JAMAICA |
End in sight for bauxite. Carlton Davis, chairman of the Jamaica Bauxite Institute (JBI), has issued a warning that the country's bauxite-alumina industry is into its last 50 years of existence, at least as `an industry based on local resources'. He put current reserves of bauxite at 700m tonnes, less than half the 1.5bnt recorded in 1974. Alcoa has just announced that it intends to double the capacity of its Jamalco plant to 2.7mt and smaller expansions are also in the pipeline; jointly they will accelerate the depletion of reserves.
The future beyond that horizon, says Davis, will have to depend on Jamaica's ability to keep its industry going on the strength of bauxite imports from countries such as Brazil, Suriname and Guyana.
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