MINING Minister Floyd Green is heading to China for talks with the operators of Jiuquan Iron and Steel Company (JISCO) in another effort to have operations resume at Alpart bauxite plant in St Elizabeth which have been shuttered since 2019.

JISCO announced the closure of the plant to carry out a major modernisation project, and last year Green signalled that it was nearing a phased reopening.

But almost one year after that announcement there has been no word on when the plant will reopen and at a post-sectoral debate presentation on Thursday Green signalled a renewed push to get it back into operation.

“The Government’s position is that JISCO/Alpart needs to start the reopening process, and it has to start this year. It still has some of the largest bauxite reserves. The entire economy of St Elizabeth and Jamaica… is dependent on mining and alumina mining,” said Green.

He pointed out that JISCO had previously outlined three major steps it intended to undertake before restarting operations, including conducting an asset verification exercise, resuming exploration activities, and beginning land reclamation work in mined areas.

According to Green, the company completed three of its targeted actions but did not move ahead with the phased reopening.

“They did come and meet with me in December to indicate that Hurricane Melissa [which made landfall on October 28, 2025] set back their time frame. As you may understand, JISCO is a State-owned company in China, and as such there is a very distinct structure in relation to decision-making. So while you have a team here on the ground, people who make decisions are in China,” explained Green.

The mining minister had told a meeting of Parliament’s Standing Finance Committee in March that a new plan regarding Alpart’s reopening needed to be crafted.

“The team from Alpart came to us in December to say that they had to delay because there was significant damage done to the Port Kaiser facility, and as such their principals have asked them to recraft the development plan to ensure that they are looking at, one, the costs to fix Port Kaiser, and also building resilience since we’ve had two sizeable weather events [Hurricane Beryl in July 2024 and Hurricane Melissa October 2025] back to back,” Green said in response to a question.

On Thursday, Green emphasised that the facility’s reopening was no longer being delayed and that the Government has every intention of making it possible in 2026.

“You see what’s happening worldwide with the price of aluminium and just the drive for these critical elements, so we’re going to go to China to meet with JISCO, to meet with the owners of the plant, and to get some definitive word from them regarding reopening. And then, depending on how these discussions go, the Government will have to make some decisions,” said Green.

He added that during his trip to China the delegation he will lead is also expected to hold talks with other Chinese interests operating in Jamaica, including Pan-Caribbean Sugar Company as well as Chinese agricultural officials to deepen cooperation in agriculture.

Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Mining Floyd Green confirms at a post-sectoral presentation press briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister in St Andrew on Thursday that a trip to China has been scheduled to begin negotiations on the reopening of the Jiuquan Iron and Steel Company (JISCO) Alpart facility in Nain, St Elizabeth. Photo: Naphtali Junior