KINGSTON, Jamaica – Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining Floyd Green says the ministry will continue to place “tremendous emphasis” on the mining sector to facilitate growth and to identify new markets for export.

He gave the commitment as the country saw a 164.2 per cent expansion in the mining and quarrying sector for the April to June quarter compared to the same period last year.

Minister Green said the growth was largely due to a higher output of aluminium linked to increased production at the Jamalco alumina refinery in Clarendon.

Notably, there was an over 100 per cent increase in limestone exports.

“I want to commend the team from Lydford Mining [in St Ann], which has been driving that exportation growth, and we are looking for greater things as the years go on,” the minister said.

He was addressing a post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House on Wednesday, November 1.

Turning to other developments in the sector, the minister said that a ‘Mining Matters’ mobile app, which will allow Jamaicans to report grievances caused by the adverse effects of mining and quarrying activities, will be launched this month.

The app is being developed in partnership with the European Union (EU).

“We have had, over the years, tremendous challenges, issues – in fact, conflicts in relation to the operation of mining in various communities. A number of our citizens have said that it is much too difficult to raise concerns and issues when they do have challenges with ongoing mining activities,” Minister Green said.

“It will also help to frame problems reported in a structured and systematic framework, clearly enhancing visibility and facilitating a comprehensive response. The application will give residents the opportunity to do real-time reporting and clearly give our agencies the opportunity to respond in real-time,” he added.

The minister said that the software along with a cost of production (COP) app are aimed at assisting stakeholders in the sector to improve their business operations.

The COP app will better assist operators in calculating costs, pricing their products, and determining profit margins.

The apps will be available at the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.

– JIS