Minister of Agriculture and Mining Floyd Green says Government will be intensifying its focus on bauxite and alumina, to boost efficiency and drive growth within the sector.

He made the declaration while addressing a Bauxite/Alumina Industry Day event at the Jamaica Bauxite Institute (JBI) at Hope Gardens in St. Andrew last Friday (May 30).

Green noted that while the industry has declined over the last few decades, the sector is still critically important to the economy.

He pointed out that there was a four per cent increase in aluminium output for 2024, moving to 1.337 million tonnes from 1.286 tonnes in 2023. In addition, the country collected approximately $623 million from bauxite royalties in the 2024-2025 fiscal year, which was a significant increase over 2023-
2024.

The minister emphasised that the Government is on a mission to drive further growth and the JBI must lead that charge.

“So, the Government is going to be playing a more frontal role in ensuring that our bauxite and alumina industry grows. We are going to be looking at things like the quality of our ore that is left, what is happening across our bauxite companies in relation to the ageing infrastructure and the plans to invest to ensure that we can be more efficient in what we do,” he pointed out.

Minister Green said that Jamaica’s red mud is believed to contain about 40 million tons of iron oxides and rare earth elements, which could be another source of funds for the mining sector.

“We do believe that this year is the year that we have to get back, not just to the conversation, but to finding partners to invest in looking at our rare earth elements in our red mud. There must be a way and a partner that can capture those rare earth elements, extract it, and use it for the benefit of all our people,” he contended.

He said that the Government will be pushing companies to boost efficiency in their operations, noting that several major players in the sector have already informed him of steps being taken in this regard.

“I’m happy to have met with Jamalco and heard about the strategic investment projects that they will be taking to streamline the process of bauxite via the removal of red mud and also their energy generation that they’re focused on,” the minister said.

“We have met with Windalco multiple times and we know that they are working on their haul road, which will allow ease of access in Special Mining Lease 174. We had a very good meeting earlier this year with Discovery Partners, and a team from the ministry visited Gramercy [refinery], and they outlined a programme of work to ensure efficiency,” he outlined.

Green noted that these commitments are welcome, and he looks forward to them being actioned.

In his remarks, general manager of the JBI, Andre Lindsay, said the institute is “refocusing and retooling to lead the research into getting rare earth elements from bauxite residue.”

He noted that he will be directing his team to undertake the necessary research and provide the data during this fiscal year.

“When we get that research and that data, then we can start attracting partnership, attracting investments, so we can…go forward in the exploration and then the extraction of rare earth elements at volumes where it’s economically viable,” Lindsay added.