Noranda suspends mining operations
OCHO RIOS, ST Ann — Noranda Jamaica Bauxite Partners said yesterday that the company has temporarily suspended its bauxite mining operations in St Ann until January 4, 2016.
According to the press release, the company will, however, continue to carry out its drying and shipping operations from the bauxite plant in Discovery Bay.
The overall impact on the company will result in a layoff, carried out in consultation with three trade unions — University and Allied Workers Union, Bustamante Industrial Trade Union, and Union of Technical and Supervisory Personnel — of approximately 100 workers, the release stated. A number of workers have also been sent on vacation leave and others have been offered an advance to assist them over the next two weeks.
Noranda’s parent company, Noranda Aluminum Holding Corporation, reported losses in the third quarter with prices at their lowest levels since the global recession in 2008/2009. The company said that in response, Noranda is aggressively pursuing strategies to reduce operating costs at all its locations.
“Preserving jobs, particularly at this time of the year, is of concern to us, but the current and critical situation pose difficult and hard decisions that have to be made, with possible further adjustments to consider, depending on the ongoing state of the industry,” Noranda Jamaica said.