December 2016 | Business View Caribbean

92 93 LYDFORD MINING CO. LTD. Since assuming control of Chevron Caribbean - operators of Texaco Jamaica in 2012, GB Energy has proudly and significantly invested in and grown the Jamaican market. With a committed team of dedicated and passionate em- ployees, GB Energy supplies a network of 67 service stations island wide. We have increased our portfolio of Consumer and Industrial accounts, supplying bulk fuel to our customers who are the backbone of development in Jamaica in the manufacturing, construction, production and farming sectors. We have also increased our market share in Aviation fuel supply and maintain a very strong presence in the Jamaica Petroleum terminals in Montego Bay. Whether you have a business interest to enter the service station/retail busi- ness, or your operations require fuel tank farm, fleet management systems and fuel supply cards for your fleet and staff, or if you need service and support, call us! Our passion is to provide Jamaica with the best and highest quality fuels backed by the unbeatable cleaning power of our Techron additive. Cousins says that for the last five years, the company has also supplied industrial grade limestone for the FGD market. FGD stands for Flue Gas Desulphurization, which is a set of technologies used to remove sulfur dioxide from exhaust flue gases of fossil-fuel power plants, and from the emissions of other sulfur oxide emitting processes. “They take our high purity limestone and they grind it and they use it in coal-fired power plants to clean it of flue gases,” he explains. “And our material in Jamaica is very effective for that because of its very, very high calcium carbonate content.” According to Millington, even though calcium carbonate is an abundant material, comprising more than four percent of the earth’s crust, and found throughout the world, the quality of Lydford’s deposits give the company a distinct advantage in the marketplace. “The particular geology of our material makes it unique in a number of ways,” says Cousins. “In addi- tion to the very high purity of our material – a high calcium carbonate content coupled with a low trace element presence, low levels of mercury, lead, iron, and cadmium– the other thing that makes it unique is the actual shape of the particles in the mineral deposit as they occur, naturally.” In 2009, Lydford Mining formed a joint ven- ture with Jamaica Producers Group, a publicly traded agricultural and food production com- pany. The venture, Four Rivers Mining Co. Ltd., was created to mine and process igneous-based rock used widely in construction, concrete man- ufacturing, and asphalt paving. The Four Rivers Mining Company invested a total of $3 mil- lion to build a new plant on the north coast of Jamaica, and currently sells sand, gravel, and as- phalt paving aggregates with an igneous-based river rock to Jamaica’s construction industry, This past year, the company completed anoth- er multi-million dollar expansion and acquired new mining equipment. “The purpose was to increase capacity and improve efficiency,” says Millington. “As part of that capital expenditure, in addition to improving the efficiencies for our export production business, we will also be diversifying our local offering to include new products. One will be a manufactured construc- tion sand from limestone. And another will be a manufactured beach sand for beach nourish- ment and replenishment both in Jamaica and the region.” According to Millington, even though calcium carbonate is an abundant material, compris- ing more than four percent of the earth’s crust, and found throughout the world, the qual- ity of Lydford’s deposits give the company a distinct advan- tage in the marketplace.