Topic: How engineering impacted the development of mining in Jamaica?

Exposition

Good afternoon everyone.Without engineering there could not be any form of development in a
country. Firstly, let’s start off with what exactly is engineering? Engineering can be defined as
the application of science and mathematics in order to solve a problem. The mining sector is one
of Jamaica’s most successful sectors. Bauxite which is Jamaica’s prime export has to be mined
from the earth. Without engineering to build the tools we need to accomplish this task, we would
have to mine with our hands. As far back as the Stone Age there was a need for tools in order to
mine. In fact, early men have been crafting tools for mining long before modern technology.
Early men crafted tools out of a variety of rocks such as flint, chert, basalt and sandstone.
Research has shown that the early men were able to cover large areas with their primitive tools.
However, due to rapid advances in technological innovation we now have the aid of tools and
machineries that work in order to make the process easier. Some of these include autonomous
vehicles, automated drilling and tunnel boring systems, drones and sensors. In Jamaica the first
mining of bauxite took place in 1942 and then in 1944 after this mining was more frequent. All
of this was possible because of the tools and machineries engineering had to offer. Therefore, I
believe engineering plays a very important role in the development of mining in the country. I
chose to research engineering’s impact on a sector of Jamaica’s economy with specific focus on
the mining sector. I chose to research this topic because I would like to know how a field in
which I am pursuing a career is improving the country. Also, I would like to develop a deeper
appreciation for its many contributions toward the development of the sector. While conducting
research on this topic I came across many differing views on the subject. On the one hand, there
are those who believe that engineering does not have a significant impact on mining in Jamaica.
On the other hand, there are others that believe engineering is the major factor behind the success
of mining in the country. (2.5 MINS)

In order to wholly explore the topic of this research two sources were obtained. My first source is
an article I obtained online. This article titled “Costing the bauxite benefit” was written by Glenn
Tucker. In the article he stated that “the bauxite industry is second only to the tourism sector in
contribution of foreign exchange. He also talked about how bauxite mining has negatively
impacted the standard of living in the country. It also presents information about how, due to the
improvements made by engineering, the mining sector is “destroying” the country. My second
source is a mining engineer by the name of Latoya Thomas. She believes that engineering played
a significant role in the development of mining in Jamaica. In an interview conducted, she stated
that she enjoys working with the equipment and seeing the different ways in which they can
impact the Earth. Both of these sources provided information that supported my thesis statement.
In conducting this research I encountered many challenges. First of all, it was very difficult to
find mining engineers in Jamaica. However, I was able to search the internet and find a mining
engineer to interview. Secondly, when conducting the interview there were many vehicular
interruptions coming from the nearby road. Therefore, there were many pauses while the
interview was taking place. Lastly, it was very difficult finding secondary sources to provide
information on the topic. Some of the sources I did find never contributed any relevant
information on the subject. However, I was able to find two articles and then I continued with the
more reliable one.(1 min, 50seconds)

My secondary source is an article written by Glenn Tucker. Glenn Tucker has a masters of
business administration and a bachelors of science in sociology. He is also a published author
and regularly writes articles for the Jamaican gleaner. I believe that information from this source
is reliable because he has some experience and also, he would have witnessed bauxite being
mined. Mr. Tucker article was useful in providing support of my research. It was very useful
because it provided information on how mining is affecting the country that I previously had no
knowledge of .Information from this source is credible because Mr. Tucker in his childhood and
also while growing up would have been a firsthand witness to how bauxite would be impacting
the country. Mr. Tucker was writing to highlight the negative aspects of mining in the country.
Therefore, I believe that operating in that context may have driven him to only highlight the
negative aspects of mining of the country.

My primary source is Latoya Thomas. She is a senior mining engineer who has attained a
bachelors degree in earth science. She also has a master of business administration in general
management. She currently works with the Carib cement cooperation limited group. I believe
information from this source is reliable because she is a mining engineer for over twelve years
now. Hence, she would have been on sites where she would have taken part in mining and would
have witnessed firsthand exactly how engineering has impacted the development in the field of
mining. Ms. Thomas was very useful in providing information because of the many years in
which she have worked as a mining engineer. Hence, the information she provided was relevant
to my research. I believe that her years of experience in mining makes her an expert in the field
and a credible source to speak on the matter.

In summary, engineering played a very important role in the development of the mining sector in
Jamaica. Some of its contributions towards mining made the procedures easier for the mining
engineers to carry out. Researching this topic helped me to get a feel for research as a iterative
process and not just one linear process. After evaluating my sources I can confidently say that
my sources were reliable for the research.