CLARENDON ALUMINA PRODUCTION

– KEEPING THE LID ON THINGS

Clarendon Alumina Production (CAP) executes and monitors programmes to facilitate the effective and efficient performance of the Jamaica alumina refinery for which it has 45 per cent interest under a joint venture agreement with General Alumina Jamaica LLC, which was originally owned by Alcoa Mineral of Jamaica. CAP’s JAMALCO operation continues to be a mainstay of the economy of the south central region of the country with the plant providing regular employment for approximately 1,000 persons as well as indirect employment to persons engaged by over 100 industrial contractors.

ACHIEVEMENTS

Early last year, JAMALCO launched Project 200 which was geared at improving the company’s performance by reducing costs across all departments. This initiative, along with favourable oil prices assisted the company to reduce the first quartile of cash costs in 2016, a position that the company had never before experienced In an effort to identify additional revenue streams, JAMALCO made its first sale of tri-hydrate in June 2016. Some 30 tons of hydrate were sold for testing to companies that wanted to assess the quality of the product. 2016 marked the third consecutive year that JAMALCO produced alumina that exceeded the required customer specifications for the commodity. With an average of above 90 per cent ,Jamaica is now one of the world’s most sought after alumina suppliers. In June 2016, JAMALCO unveiled four brand new locomotives which will be used to transport its commodities – bauxite, oil, caustic and alumina. JAMALCO was recommended for re-certification under the Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) 1800 certification. Four high-pressure boilers in the Powerhouse were successfully overhauled to improve the reliability of JAMALCO’s operations.