KINGSTON, Jamaica – Clarendon Alumina Production Limited (CAP), a company wholly owned by the Jamaican Government has announced the completion of the sale by Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals (AWAC) of its stake in the Jamalco bauxite mining and alumina refinery joint venture, to Noble Group Limited.

On December 1, final details of the transfer of ownership to Noble were concluded and on December 3, the first official meeting of Jamalco’s new executive committee was convened, consisting of representatives from CAP and Noble, a statement from CAP said Sunday.

The meeting was chaired by Mark Hansen, Global head of the Metals Division of the Noble Group, who led a team from Noble.

Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Phillip Paulwell, has described the new partnership as providing tremendous prospects for the future. He said that as one of the largest global supply chains companies in the world, Noble’s decision to invest in Jamaica was an encouraging indicator for the industry and the country as a whole.

“They see the potential and we believe that once the energy and equipment issues are resolved, CAP will be profitable and help the country to realise the true value of its Jamalco asset and assist in the country’s economic recovery,” Paulwell said in summarizing what the Noble investment meant for the future of Jamaica’s bauxite industry.

Prior to the executive committee meeting, representatives of CAP and Noble, lead by Dr Vincent Lawrence and Mark Hansen respectively, addressed a town hall meeting at the refinery with the employees of Jamalco, where they outlined the new plans and answered a wide range of questions. It was reiterated that current jobs at Jamalco are safe and that the workforce will actually be increased once the modernization and upgrading process has been completed and production is brought back to full capacity.