THE WEST Indies Alumina Company (WINDALCO) has been awarded the 2003 Commissioner of Mines Plaque for the 'best record' in land reclamation and restoration, making five the number of times in six years it has attained such accolade.
In 2003 WINDALCO restored 104 hectares of mined-out land - 29 hectares more than its target of 75 hectares.
The plague was presented last Wednesday at the Ministry of Mining and Energy's Mineral Industry Awards at the Golf View Hotel in Mandeville, Manchester.
In 2000, the Company adopted the International Environmental Standard (ISO) 14001, as its management system to address several environmental concerns relating to reclamation, rehabilitation and utilisation of mined-out and reclaimed lands. In 1968, a land reclamation research programme was undertaken to determine the best techniques of reclamation for effective restoration of mined-out lands for agricultural production. Resulting from the findings, the former practice of restoring land predominantly for livestock production was expanded to include food crop production, timber and fruit trees with some of the lands also being used for recreational purposes and housing development.
According to WINDALCO, reclamation and restoration are conducted on a timely basis and are supervised by technical personnel from the regulatory mines and agricultural agencies for certification.
