KINGSTON, Jamaica — UC Rusal Alumina Jamaica Limited (WINDALCO) says it plans to invest $620 million in the construction of a second effluent holding pond (EHP) facility to prevent the risk of any spillages to the environment.

According to the company, the capacity of the new EHP will be 660,000 cubic meters, which will add to the current capacity of the existing EHP of 810,000 cubic meters.

It noted that preparatory works started at the end of December 2021 and said completion is scheduled for December 2022.

At the official launch of the project on Tuesday, January 6, Minister of Transport and Mining Robert Montague commended the company on the initiation of the expansion project. 

“I want to congratulate WINDALCO for this project which will increase the capacity of the existing pond and for their excellent work in moving to go green and to protect the environment,” Montague said.

The construction of the second holding pond is also expected to increase the life of the company’s Mudstacking facility.

The EHP was designed by leading Canadian engineering firm SNC LAVALIN and will be constructed by Jamaican Contractor Cousins Construction Service Limited in collaboration with WINDALCO’s Projects Management Department, WINDALCO said.

Minister Montague also congratulated WINDALCO for its excellent safety record, noting that the company has operated without any serious safety accidents for more than two years.

“I want to give our heartfelt congratulations to the management and the team for the excellent service that you are doing and for the keen sense of safety because safety is the lifeblood of all operations,” he shared, further congratulating employees and an external contractor, who were awarded during the project launch, for their performance in safety for the year 2021.

Meanwhile, WINDALCO’s Country Manager and Mining Director Sergey Kostyuk noted that WINDALCO continues to adhere to UC RUSAL’s safety standards and the guidelines of the Jamaican government and environmental regulators in keeping with the laws of Jamaica.

In the meantime, the mining minister also praised WINDALCO for its progress in ensuring that landowners receive titles under the Bauxite Titling Project.

“I again want to congratulate WINDALCO for the strides you have made in reducing your balance to only have 82 titles outstanding and your commitment to hand over those 82 titles in an extremely short order,” Montague said.

He emphasised that WINDALCO has the least outstanding titles in the bauxite and mining industry.