Low levels of raw material have prompted Caribbean Cement Company Limited to increase its gypsum and limestone quarries. The company is now in talks with the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) to more than double its quarry operations.
Caribbean Cement currently has a quarry in close proximity to its plant in Rockfort, Kingston, which is the Halberstadt Gypsum Quarry. Plans are being put in place to expand that quarry from 2.0 kilometers to 6.7 kilometers. Additionally, Caribbean Cement hopes to establish a limestone quarry at Harbour Head across 50 acres of land.
Supplies at both quarries are described by Caribbean Cement as being critically low. Therefore, the expansion is needed. However, low defined by the company is as much as 20 years.
The 6.7 hectares of land at the Halberstadt quarry will process 200,000 tonnes of gypsum per year while the 20 hectares (50 acres) of land from the Harbour Head quarry will process 800,000 tonnes of limestone. Both quarries are 8.5 kilometers apart.
Halberstadt is the only known location of gypsum in Jamaica of such vast economic quantity while the limestone found in Harbour Head quarry was selected based on the chemical composition of the material.
Caribbean Cement recently released its financial statement for 2017 which indicated that the company pays approximately $700,000 annually to the government of Jamaica for leased lands used for limestone mining. Revenue for 2017 was $16.5 billion compared to $15.7 billion the previous year. While net profit for 2017 was $1.15 billion compared to $1.3 billion in 2016. Caribbean Cement is currently trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange at $32.60.
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