Aerial view of the Windalco Kirkvine plant in Manchester, in photo taken September 15, 2004. - file

Windalco, the owners of two alumina plants in Jamaica, announced yesterday that it will build a new chemical lime facility here to meet the refineries' requirement of 10,000 tonnes a year.

Windalco said that it will spend an estimated US$45 million (J$3 billion) on the project, which will be completed within two years.

"We have been importing lime, but once the project is completed, we will be able to adequately supply both our plants," said Windalco's director for business development, Michael Douglas.

Windalco's two refineries, which it purchased from the Aluminium Company of Canada (Alcan) early in the decade, have a combined capacity of approximately 1.2 million tonnes of alumina annually.

Lime (calcium oxide) is a critical ingredient in the process of refining bauxite to alumina, helping to remove phosphorous and other impurities from the product.

300,000 tonnes of lime used

However, the island, with alumina production of over four million tonnes a year, used approximately 300,000 tonnes of lime last year, a substantial proportion of which was imported despite installed lime production capacity of between 310,000-320,000 tonnes a year.

"I would say that there is a production shortfall of between 80,000 and 90,000 tonnes a year and most of that would be for Windalco," said a senior mining industry executive. "How the industry developed is that lime plants were attached to the alumina companies, but most of these facilities are long past their best, having been installed nearly half a century ago."

The industry's requirement for lime would rise dramatically if major expansion plans, including the doubling of the capacity of the 1.3 million-tonne Jamalco refinery takes place, officials say.

Windalco's Douglas described the plant at the company's Kirkvine refinery as "a very old and unreliable rotary kiln" with "very poor thermal efficiency" and an inefficient dust suppression system.

"The situation is expected to be significantly alleviated with the construction of the new kilns," Douglas said. He expects to plant to help bring down operating costs.

The existing Windalco facility has a rated capacity of just under 70,000 tonnes of lime but last year produced an estimated 48,000 tonnes of the 88,000 tonnes consumed by its two refineries.

Industry sources say that Windalco' decision to establish the new lime facility came after the company failed to entice new, independent investors in the sector. Lime production was not its core business and should be undertaken by others, Windalco argued.

"The point they were making is that 75 per cent of Jamaica is comprised as high quality limestone and that it is provides a good business opportunity, both for the alumina sector and for downstream products and exports," said the Wednesday Business source. "They took the decision to go ahead with the investment earlier this year when there were no takers."

There is one significant independent manufacturer of chemical line in Jamaica, the 120,000 tonne capacity Rugby Lime, all of whose output is sold to Jamalco, the refinery owned by Alcoa and the Jamaican government.

Initially a joint venture between the British building material company Rugby and Jamaican investors, Rugby Lime is now fully-owned by Cemex of Mexico.

business@gleanerjm.com