Jamaica’s limestone mining industry has secured the island’s first shipment of construction grade limestone to the United States.

According to the Jamaica Promotions Corporation (Jampro), St Ann-based Lydford Mining Company will be shipping 36,000 metric tonnes of limestone that will be used in the production of concrete aggregates in Savannah, Georgia.

The loading for the first shipment is expected to take four days and involves 1,000 trucks. It represents the start of a series of regular shipments into the south-eastern US markets, Jampro said.

Jampro’s President, Diane Edwards was on site, alongside Edgar Cousins and Jackie Millington of Lydford Mining, and the buyers from the Twin Rivers Land & Timber team including Clay and Ashley Crosby, CEO and CFO respectively, to witness the historic occasion and observe the loading of the ship.

“Jampro was instrumental in introducing Lydford Mining to Mr Crosby, as the connecting of buyers with Jamaican exporters is a core function of Jampro and we are pleased that this connection has borne substantial fruit and an anticipated long-term relationship,” Edwards said.

Jamaica has one of the purest deposits of limestone globally with over 50 billion tonnes of proven limestone reserves.

The global market size for limestone was valued at US$73.51billion in 2020 and is projected to reach US$113.6 billion by 2028, Jampro said, noting that it bodes well for Jamaica and the Lydford Mining Company.