Deposited millions of years ago in irregular paleokarstic channels, Jamaica's extensive bauxite deposits provide good quality ore for alumina production and subsequent aluminum smelting. Bauxite mining operations are critical to the Jamaican economy since the industry accounts for a dominant percentage of Jamaica's export earnings. Bauxite production in Jamaica accounts for about 10 percent of the world's output each year.

Bauxite deposits in Jamaica lie relatively close to the surface and can be extracted using standard surface mining techniques. However, since those deposits occur in scattered pockets across the country's rugged landscape, the Kaiser Jamaica Bauxite Company (KJBC) and Alumina Partners of Jamaica (ALPART), two of the country's major mining and refining operations, needed to develop and implement cost-effective methods for the acquisition and management of bauxite reserves and surface ownership distribution rights.

Comments Gil De Campos, director of Bauxite Reserves and Mine Planning for Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation's Jamaican operations, "If you are looking at a 400,000-ton bauxite deposit, you will probably have to deal with 10 to 20 owners of the surface rights. There are about 600,000 land parcels in Jamaica, and it is often difficult to do title searches and secure legal conveyance for bauxite bearing land because many of the records are still only available on paper and not accessible in an easily referenced format."

KJBC and ALPART needed a spatial management information technology (IT) tool to organize the many layers of information related to ore reserves, land records, and parcel ownership as well as promote effective analysis and distribution for internal uses and regulatory compliance.

In the early 1990s, the companies began developing data infrastructures in a way that would later support the deployment of a GIS. Information, such as topography, housing development, roads, and property boundaries, was organized into layers. ALPART conducted extensive aerial photography and mapping within its mining leases to support exploration, property acquisition, and rapid data conversion to an integrated pre-GIS environment. At KJBC, initial efforts to manage reserves and ownership data were confined to a CAD environment. Though useful, the CAD system was not up to the standards required for analysis and management of spatial data.

In 1998, KJBC implemented a GIS to serve a number of departments including mine planning, engineering, operations, and land acquisition. KJBC's legal and compliance officers, who work closely with government and environmental regulatory agencies in Jamaica, also make extensive use of the GIS technology. The company's GIS software includes ArcView and ArcView Spatial Analyst and ArcView 3D Analyst extensions. Field data collection relies heavily on the PenMap application of Esri Business Partner Condor Earth Technologies.

At ALPART, development and integration of GIS gained momentum in late 2000 following the establishment of a mining joint venture between ALPART and another local bauxite and alumina producer. The ALPART Mining Venture (AMV) GIS is built around Esri's newly released ArcGIS 8.1 software and is integrated with mine planning and Vulcan 3D modeling software systems provided by Maptek (Sidney, Australia). Utilization of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), integrated with GIS applications, allows for rapid field collection and subsurface characterization of the bauxite deposits. The combination of techniques has allowed ALPART to produce accurate and unbiased volumetric estimates and support exploration drilling efforts.

Comments De Campos, "Using ground-penetrating radar has allowed us to more easily locate the bauxite deposits and determine how they are distributed spatially, while our GIS and mine modeling have greatly increased our ability to develop very accurate models of our bauxite deposits. We then link the deposit models with our mine planning software, which helps us to better manage grade-tonnage relationships and increase the amount of ore extracted in a more cost-effective fashion.

"We have created an environment that allows us to take technical solutions to the field that have been developed from our vast information infrastructure. We can field test those solutions in a real-time, dynamic environment and then return to the office to make any necessary modifications to the application."

Because Jamaica is a small country, the public and private sectors often cooperate. The KJBC works closely with the Jamaica Bauxite Institute, which oversees the allocation of bauxite-rich lands. The institute's Director General Paris A. Lyew-Ayee has a keen interest in GIS technology and has supported efforts to expand the use of the technology in Jamaica.

In this vein, since most aluminum mining operations in Jamaica are cooperative ventures, they often spawn a need for a much broader and more comprehensive set of decision making tools for mining and mine development that includes land restoration once bauxite extraction is completed.

Concludes De Campos, "Today, there is evolution of the use of GIS technology in Jamaica. It is quickly expanding from one focused on mining and natural resource management to a much broader-based implementation that is being used to help the country manage its economic development and infrastructure. I believe that our long-time commitment to the implementation of GIS, the cooperative efforts that have been implemented with government organizations such as the Jamaica Bauxite Institute, and the success we have enjoyed have made a leading contribution to the development of a national GIS in Jamaica."

With the successful implementation of GIS in the KJBC and the AMV GIS, as well as the Lands Council of Jamaica, cooperative efforts have begun to establish a true countrywide GIS in Jamaica. Currently, the office of the Prime Minister has a dedicated group of people who are looking at the adoption of a rapid implementation of GIS across the country.

For more information, contact Gil DeCampos (e-mail: Gil.DeCampos@kaiseral.com, tel.: 876-523-1941).