To contribute in the local production of construction materials and to the nickel industry of 2020, were fulfilled tasks of geology, first link to achieve to take the maximum advantage of the resources that the national territory has by nature.
That local development and self-sufficiency are philosophies of economic life in each territory of the Cuban archipelago, are indications of the country's leadership, which are trying to materialize in all sectors.
In that sense, a prioritized program such as housing can also benefit from these premises.
Therefore, for more than a decade, the geological sector, specifically the geomining companies, and the municipal and provincial governments have been working together to identify sites with resources such as sand, clay or stone, which are capable of supplying needs in the local production of construction materials.
Enrique Castellanos Abella, director of Geology of the Ministry of Energy and Mines, told Granma that in 2020 three explorations of natural sand for that purpose were completed in Pinar del Río.
In Los Gálvez, municipality of Consolación del Sur, Castellanos Abella put as an exemple, that it was estimated that 5,350 cubic meters could be extracted. Likewise, in Cortés and Cayuco, both belonging to the municipality of Sandino, some 670,000 and 600,000 cubic meters of sand were evaluated, respectively.
On the other hand, Castellanos Abella considered relevant the geological recognition in Remedios, Villa Clara province, of kaolinitic clay for the production of cement or cement extender, which allows increasing the volume of this material.
Likewise, in Santa Clara and Placetas in that same province , a magnesite reconnaissance was carried out for the lining of chimneys, furnaces and other facilities that require it, and one on marble in Las Calderas, Arimao, in the municipality of Cienfuegos, for use as cladding slabs, granites for flooring and tile production.
"The initiative of local production has allowed recovering the places, which were formerly discarded for not possessing large volumes of these resources, because now they are successful in terms of proximity to the villages and capable of covering the small demands that the locality may have," he argued.
GUARANTEEING RESOURCES TO THE NICKEL INDUSTRY
Whether or not to increase nickel exports, another strategic issue for the economy, depends on the processing capacities of the existing plants in the country, the geological work allows having the resources and mineral reserves needed to prolong in time the exploitation of this type of deposit.
For these reasons, last year NicaroTec company completed the prospecting phase of a project in the East of Pinares de Mayarí, Holguín province, where several million tons of nickel were estimated to be delivered to the industry, and whose exploration stage has already started this year.
In this regard, Castellanos Abella explained that the premise is to raise the category of nickel and cobalt resources in this site and to prolong, with them, the exploitation of the Che Guevara and Moa Níquel procesing plants, in the municipality of Moa, Holguín.
Last year, he pointed out, the sector has also focused on the exploitation of resources already studied so that they can be assimilated by the nickel processing plants. The Nickel Research Center worked on technological studies to incorporate low-grade mineral raw materials, i.e., low nickel and cobalt content, or that were previously considered to have less than ideal conditions for processing.
Despite the fact that nickel exploration projects are very large and cost millions of dollars, both for the necessary thousands of meters of drilling and for the samples and chemical tests they require, according to Castellanos Abella, the sector ensures for the exploitation of the plants an availability of resources for more than 20 years, and the guarantee continues to grow. / Gladys Leidys Ramo López - Granma / Translated by Gobierno Provicial Holguin.