Jamaica’s mining sector has been dominated by one thing, bauxite. Although it has produced fruitful results, diversification discussions are now at the fore of the industry. The government has a plan, and it involves exploration in other areas including rare earth elements, gold, copper and limestone.
Let’s start with rare earth elements. For years, once the bauxite had been mined, the residue was largely left untouched. But now, this residue has been proven to contain something very valuable on the global market.
The Jamaica Bauxite Institute (JBI) is in advanced discussions with local licence holder, Nippon Light Metal, to establish a full commercial plant to extract rare earth elements contained in local bauxite residue.
Presented by:
Andrae Palmer
