KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) - A team of Czech experts are evaluating quarries in this Caribbean nation to help it improve mining operations and develop plans for maximum efficiency, a government statement said Saturday.
'We're developing a plan for our quarries where we're going to show people that you can mine in such a manner that it is attractive and sustainable,' said Victor Cummings, minister of state in Jamaica's Ministry of Agriculture and Lands.
Cummings said he organized the experts' visit after an official trip to the Czech Republic where he toured mined-out quarries developed as tourist attractions. 'These are some of the same things that we would like to do here,' he said in the statement.
The Jamaican government recently hired a consultant to determine the boundaries of a jungle territory home to descendants of freed African slaves who are fighting plans for bauxite mining in the area. The area, called Cockpit Country, spans four parishes in northwest Jamaica.
Jamaica is the world's fifth largest producer of bauxite, the principal ore used in aluminum.
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