Mark Hansen is Noranda Bauxite’s new big man in town and, as he gets ready to sail over the Atlantic and direct traffic from the company’s St Ann plant, there are a few things that he is assuring Jamaicans of.

One of them is that there will be absolutely no mining in the Cockpit Country by the company that he now heads, and he also wants to go after improvements in company-community relations; protecting the environment, and use mined out land for greater productive purposes.

Hansen is CEO of Concord Resources Ltd, which in July this year acquired a 49 per cent private stake in Noranda Jamaica Bauxite Partners, after buying out former owners DADA Holdings in the United States

The transaction includes ownership of US-based Noranda Alumina Refinery in Gramercy, Louisiana; Noranda’s Bauxite mining operations at Discovery Bay, and the NICHE chemical non-metallurgical operations formerly held by New Day Aluminum Holdings, of which its had been a minor partner since three years before.

The Jamaica Government owns the other 51 per cent stake in Noranda, but Concord remains the operating partner. Its functions include the mining of bauxite, the drying of the mineral and shipping of the commodity to Louisiana where it is converted into alumina.

Now Hansen, a former chairman of Clarendon Alumina Partners at Jamalco, Hayes in Clarendon, has moved to ease concerns of those Jamaicans who are located in the bauxite mining zones of St Ann and Trelawny that Noranda’s continued operations will benefit them.

A meeting to be held on Tuesday will deal with the issue of the Environmental Impact Assessment of the Special Mining Lease 173 (called SML 173) that is held by Noranda, and Hansen, who spoke to the Jamaica Observer from his London base in an exclusive interview last week, expects that the necessary clarifications about the company’s plans and intentions will be understood.

Hanson will not attend that meeting, as he is stuck in London, but his colleagues will be, and he expects an honest discussion on the benefits of bauxite mining, and hopes that Noranda will be able to properly represent that it will not mine in the Cockpit Country, and also show that the company does not use any material that is detrimental to the ground water.

“We have no intention of mining in the Cockpit Country. I want to state emphatically that we have understood, and respected the re-boundary; we understand the importance of not mining in the Cockpit Country and do what we can do successfully in the areas permitted,” said Hansen, who will be represented by management consulting firm Conrad Douglas & Associates Limited, a three-and-a half-decades-old company which is involved in environmental engineering, environmental management, project development, among other things.

An advertisement placed in the Jamaica Observer of Monday, November 8, 2021 stated that the interactive virtual meeting from satellite locations will receive and respond to comments from the public on the Final Environmental Impact Assessment, following recent negative comments on the matter, mainly over social media. The locations will be at St James Anglican Church, Endeavor; Retreat Community Centre, both in St Ann; and Ulster Spring Baptist Church in Trelawny.

“We have a good record of community relations and doing more in the future on our plans,” Hansen continued, “and this is an important step for the business at Noranda to work on this SML in a respectful way. I hope we can have an open discussion and it can be a robust discussion that is a two-sided debate about the merits of the industry and the economic activities that it undertakes. There has been in times inaccuracies about what the company wants to do and what the plans are.”

The SML 173 allows Noranda to mine bauxite in clearly defined areas of St Ann and the adjoining parish of Trelawny, which do not include protected areas of the Cockpit Country, and other watershed zones.

“SML 173 is the future of Noranda. The SMLs we presently mine are old SMLs. It’s a business that has been operating for more than 50 years in the communities of St Ann. What we are going to discuss in public next week is the future of the Noranda operations in St Ann and that’s a very important piece of the puzzle for us as we look forward to continuing the operations as they have been successful for us.

“This is the piece that we intend to put on the table so that we can be a meaningful investor with a long plan to be operating. Every business in mining is a capital intensive business, lots of finance, lots of plans, big workforces, big capital needs. It’s very important for businesses like that to have a plan over many years and SML 173 provides the Noranda business with the runway that it needs for the foreseeable future in a way that there will be additives to that business,” Hansen said.

Regarding criticisms that Noranda’s mining operations have impacted water resources with caustic soda and other chemicals, Hansen said that strict procedures are put in place to ensure that seepage does not occur.

“Noranda is different. We do not use any material which would impact ground water. There is no impact of chemicals that would hurt ground water, that we undertake. It’s just not part of the operation that we are doing. We are just mining bauxite, drying bauxite and shipping bauxite.

“Like every business in the heavy industries it’s very important for the communities to operate with the least impact possible. We have taken this business over only in July. We have some previous experience working in Jamaica and understand the importance of the community relations aspect, because bauxite mining occurs in communities that work closely with the mining companies or you can be close neighbours. Working to benefit the communities we operate in is an important goal and we recognise that. We are going to work hard to make that the forefront again of our operations in Noranda along the north coast.

“The SML 173 had some aspects of it which predated a number of issues that are important today — one of those is the boundaries of the Cockpit Country. We as a business have accepted the Government’s boundaries to be observed and respected as the Cockpit Country. There previously was some consternation about SML 173 until it was re-boundaried, you had the boundaries impinging on the Cockpit Country. This has been redone and we accept that. We have no intention to look at mining in the Cockpit Country and we recognise that as an important issue. There will be no mining, none whatsoever. It’s something that has never been in our interest, nor do we have any protest to that. The boundaries of the Cockpit Country have been established, and have been reflected in the new boundaries of SML 173 we respect that and we will be working under those guidelines.”

He said that great care is being exercised to ensure that forested areas which have been deemed exclusive under SML 173 will remain so, and not mined, explaining that the company would do nothing to destroy forestry land, nor compromise ground water.

“The forestry reserves have been pointed out. Many areas that have been mined have been reclaimed. Bauxite mining can be a well managed and low impact operation if done properly. It can be a successful business,” Hansen said.