Noranda Jamaica Bauxite Company has opened its doors to some one hundred tertiary level students who have been working at the mining company on a four-week rotation basis this summer.The programme commenced in June and will continue until August 31. The students are assigned to the company’s plant and shipping facility in Discovery Bay, the property offices in Brown’s Town and Alexandria, and the mining complex at Water Valley in the Dry Harbour Mountains of St. Ann.In welcoming the students Noranda Bauxite’s general manager Antoine Liddell thanked them for their interest in the company and urged them to take advantage of the opportunity provided to prepare themselves for their working careers.“The Noranda experience will expose you to the essential aspects of management and administration of a bauxite company engaged in the massive operations of mining, drying, and shipping some five million tons of bauxite annual capacity,” said Liddell.The majority of the students come from the bauxite company’s operating areas in
St. Ann, and are pursuing courses at the University of the West Indies (UWI), University of Technology (UTECH), Northern Caribbean University (NCU), the College of Agricultural Science and Education (CASE), the Brown’s Town Community College and at several teacher training colleges.
They have been assigned to various departments and are supervised and mentored by department heads and regular employees.
The programme has also given the students opportunities to work in areas including engineering, accounting, mines production, land rehabilitation, property management, information systems, industrial and community relations, legal, safety, maintenance, purchasing, warehousing, shipping, and the company’s power operations.Devroy Archer who is a third year student pursuing Business Administration at UTECH and who is from Mt. Zion in the parish has been assigned to the Accounting Department. He says that the experience will prove invaluable as it has given him the opportunity to get acquainted with the world of professional work.
Cheryl Maxwell from Discovery Bay studies English and Literature at Church Teachers’ College and has been placed at the switchboard and receptionist area, which she says has been a wonderful experience meeting people and learning how to cope with the many enquiries and demands that are made by callers and visitors to the bauxite company. Martin Clarke, studying architecture at Brown’s Town Community College was placed in the tractor shop and has learnt much about organizing storage and tool shop equipment as well as being exposed to heavy duty mechanics.Noranda’s Industrial Relations and Personnel Manager Nathan Thompson described the programme as one of the largest of its kind in Jamaica. “This is always a win-win situation”, he said, “as Noranda expects to learn from the input and creativity of these students during the period.”As the programme draws to a close the students are preparing to submit their reports and recommendations based on their projects and work experience in their respective departments.
