Bauxite mining in Linden…Economic and environmental impact

Mar 12, 2017 News

By Enid Joaquin

Last year, Linden marked a centenary of bauxite mining. The discovery of the precious ore, all those decades ago, led to the town’s prosperity for many years.

Linden’s famous Blue Lake.

There was the establishment of mining sites such as Hope, Three Friends, Maria Elizabeth, Montgomery, Arrowcance, Dorabecee, Kara Kara and Lucky Spot, and of course the Bauxite Plant at Mackenzie, where the ore was washed and prepared for shipment overseas.
Later, the bauxite industry was further consolidated, with the opening of the Alumina Plant in 1961, where alumina was produced using the bauxite tailings or waste. At the plant some of the bauxite was transformed into alumina, before its export to world markets, for further processing into aluminum.
The establishment of the plant was reportedly considered one of Guyana’s largest-ever construction projects at the time.
With a production capacity of 230,000 tons per year, many Lindeners gained employment there. Unfortunately, the facility closed operations in 1981, a mere 11 years after the bauxite industry was nationalized. That reportedly led to the retrenchment of some 1,600 workers.
It is the view of many Lindeners, that that was the beginning of the downward spiral

Components of the Wheel Excavator used to move the sand onto the conveyor belts (Photo by Henry Hamilton)

of the Town’s economic base.
Coupled with fluctuating prices and a decrease in demand for bauxite on the world market, downscaling of the workforce within the bauxite industry as a whole, soon became a grim reality that Lindeners had to face.
Many became ‘redundant’ and went home with a severance package. Some plugged their money into small economic ventures while others sought employment elsewhere.
Thus, plummeting from a position of prominence, where the industry employed more than 6,000, during its glory days, employment figures dwindled to just over 600.
By this time there was a lot of talk of ‘diversification’, where other economic ventures were touted.
Some people ventured into the logging industry, which prior to the discovery of bauxite had provided a strong economic base in the community, while others opted to try their hand at agriculture or entrepreneurship. But for many Lindeners leaving the community to seek their fortunes elsewhere seemed their only recourse.
Some ventured into the gold fields, some sought employment in Georgetown and others even further afield. This was a complete turnaround from the days, when people from other communities in Guyana, and even some Caribbean

A ship waiting to be loaded with bauxite in Linden yesterday.

islands flocked the mining town in search of jobs.
For some, however, it was either a job ‘with bauxite’ or nothing. Of course those that chose careers in the teaching and nursing professions were considered ‘lucky’.

Sustained for 100 years
During the May 23, 2016 launch of the centennial commemoration of Bauxite mining, chairman of the Planning Committee, Horace James, reflecting on the past hundred years of mining, said that there are opportunities and scope for further development of the industry and hopes that in the next 100 years there will be other products coming from bauxite.
”It is believed that Guyana is capable of producing some 350 million tonnes of bauxite. But, generating sufficient electricity and diversifying production are the biggest challenges facing the industry,” James said.
He pointed out that there is an average of 100 more years left in bauxite reserves in Region Ten.
According to James, a survey discovered that there is 200 million tonnes of bauxite at block 37; 18 million tonnes at Bamia; 40 million tonnes at East Montgomery and an unproven amount at Tiger Jump.
With an industry that survived over a century, despite the challenges, a further hundred years of mining, is certainly an interesting prospect.
However, it is not only the economic fortunes of the town that bauxite has impacted.

Changing Landscape
Bauxite mining has seen the landscape of this place many call home, change forever. Huge variegated sand mountains, undulating valleys, beautiful Blue lakes and wide stretches of white sand, now form an almost natural part of the Town’s topography.
But the changing scenery did not happen overnight- it took years.
Take Coomacka for instance… commonly referred to as the mines, it sits on the periphery of Linden. Coomacka is home to the old Mongomery mines, where the machine shop, though defunct, still stands imposingly, like a huge welcome sign to this remote community.
Considered the most prominent of the other ‘mines villages’, Coomacka boasts a huge sand beach that was not there thirty or forty years ago.
That beach is a result of all the sand that has washed down from the mines over the years.
The sand formed part of the overburden that had to be cleared or excavated to get to the bauxite below. In the early days a Wheel Excavator was utilized to remove the overburden of sand, through a system of conveyor belts that deposited the latter several hundred yards away.
The sand of course ended up in the nearby Demerara River, where its accumulation soon resulted in the beach we see today.
Now the river is under threat of being bridged by the beach!
This phenomenon has created a huge problem, as there is severe flooding whenever there is incessant rainfall coupled with high tides.
Naturally, the beach impedes the smooth and fast flow of the river-hence the backup of water that floods the community. Apart from the issue of flooding, the beach poses a serious threat to river craft, especially those that navigate at nights.
Regional Chairman, Rennis Morian, reflecting on the issue of flooding at Coomacka said that such a state of affairs has been thirty years in the making (alluding to the massive sand build up that now forms an encumbrance to the free flow of water).

Blue Lakes
A unique aspect of Linden’s Landscape is its picturesque Blue Lakes, which can be found on both the Mackenzie and Wismar shores.
The lakes, like the beach at Coomacka, are a direct result of mining activity, but where the beach was formed from sand washing down from the mines, the lakes were formed after abandoned mined out pits accumulated water.
The “blue water”, according to some, is as a result of the sky reflecting in the water.
These lakes are so beautiful that quite a few persons have touted them as possible tourist attractions.
They have become very popular over the years, especially with the young people, quite a few of whom have entered their treacherous depths, for a swim that ended tragically.
However, despite all that, Lindeners love these Lakes and many can’t wait for the day, when they are officially declared tourists’ destinations- complete with life guards and all the necessary safety appurtenances.