June 2018c

72 73 the brightness and moisture; and a full chem- ical analysis of the material.” BVC: What type of product divisions com- prise your company? Cousins: “We have four divisions. The first is very high purity material for food and phar- maceutical grade, which is pretty much on the raw material side – all for export. The second is a construction-grade operation. We produce unwashed aggregates for the local construction industry through a dry produc- tion system. Then, the new part, which we set up in the last year, is for both local and export construction aggregates. The plant we just bought is three times the size of the existing facility, which will allow us to take advantage of opportunities on the domestic construction market for specification aggre- gates. And that’s the key. These materials all meet ASM specifications for high quality con- crete and roadwork. We also will be exporting those washed construction aggregates in- cluding a specification sand and specification aggregates for concrete and roadwork. The existing plant we set up last year will remain in production as a parallel operation to con- currently produce a manufactured beach sand LYDFORD MINING CO. for beach re-nourishment and beach creation. “The third is our milled products division, which supplies ground calcium carbonate to various domestic markets in Jamaica for put- ting into paint, PVC plastics, and detergents. We also export regionally within CARICOM. Our fourth division involves contract produc- tion for other people using our mobile plants. If there is a road project for example, where they need the aggregates produced onsite, we will go in with our machines on a con- tract basis and just leave when we’re finished. We’ve done it for a few years, but with all the infrastructure work going in now, it’s a grow- ing opportunity.” BVC: Has business increased due to rebuild- ing after last fall’s hurricane season? Cousins: “Business has increased but not for that reason directly. We were, thankful- ly, spared from the hurricane devastation but, because of general global warming and climate change, there is beach erosion that takes place all the time. So, there is a growing market for beach re-nourishment and beach creation, and we expect that market to in- crease significantly. “And the market for construction aggregates