Mining activity connected to the Alpart bauxite/alumina plant will resume in January with the goal of extracting and exporting up to 2 million tons of raw bauxite during the next 18 months, the Jamaican government said.

The Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Phillip Paulwell, announced the signing of an agreement with Russian aluminum company UC Rusal to restart mining.

"The new deal represents an expression of the government's commitment to ensure that the full potential of the bauxite/alumina industry is realized in the shortest possible time," Paulwell said.

UC Rusal will invest $400 million to modernize the Alpart plant and to fund infrastructure and transportation improvements, the minister said.

The refinery is scheduled to re-open in December 2016 with an annual production capacity of 1.65 million tons of smelter-grade alumina, Paulwell said. EFE