"THERE IS gold in them thar hills," Minister of Industry, Commerce and Technology, Phillip Paulwell, has said.
The Minister was updating Parliament on the Ausjam mining project in Pennants, Clarendon, where Jamaica's first known gold mine has been found. Ausjam is an Australian mining company.
The gold mining project was first announced some seven years ago. Falling gold prices between 1997 and 1999, disrupted previous plans for the opening of the plant and Ausjam, subsequently, pulled out. There were also questions about whether the resources were enough to warrant investing in.
The Australians, however, returned in October, 2000, and has invested some $213.5 million and have employed 25 persons since at the Pennants plant. Minister of Mining and Energy, Robert Pickersgill said in December that he was cautious about making too much noise about the project.
But, in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, Mr. Paul-well had no qualms in declaring that the project was a success. He said that the company has already started extracting the metal.
"I know many of my colleagues are not going to believe it, but I've been there, I've been to the gold mining plant in Pennants. Yes there is gold in them thar hills of Clarendon," Mr. Paulwell declared.
