The recent discovery of extensive bauxite deposits in the red and buff clays
of Jamaica suggested the desirability of a search for similar occurrences in Cuba,
especially as lateritic iron ore was known to occur in Cuba. The writer spent
the period from May 9 to July 16, 1943, in this examination, two weeks of which
were spent in Jamaica. The investigation was under the auspices of the State
Department and the Interdepartmental Committee for Cooperation with the American
Republics. Mr. Charles Ducoté, Commercial Attaché, and Mr. C. A. Botsford,
Minerals Attaché of the American Embassy in Havana, were of much assistance in
arranging facilities for transportation and in other ways. Mr. Robert Donald of
the Metals Reserve Company Agency at Santiago de Cuba kindly arranged for some
analyses of samples in the Agency laboratory.