Przegl¹d Geologiczny, vol. 52, no. 8/2, 2004 Mineral raw materials and commodities of Poland Marcin Piwocki*, Stanis³aw Przenios³o* A b s t r a c t. Mineral resources of Poland are presented in a historical view, from the prehistoric beginnings till the present day. Some of the mineral resources in Poland have been exploited constantly since the 11th–12th century — these resources are zinc and lead ores and rock salt. One of the important Polish mining traditions concers of hard coal. Noteworthy is the world earliest crude oil mining industry in the Carpathians region. In the present day, the main achievements of Polish economic geology are: the discovery of copper and silver ores in the Fore-Sudetic monocline; documentation of a new major coal basin in Europe, in the Lublin region, and lignite deposits in the central and western Poland; the discovery of the worlds biggest native sulphur deposits in the Carpathian Foredeep; and also the discovery of the gas fields in the Carpathian Foredeep and in the Polish Lowland. Within the last fifty years some of the mineral raw materials, like iron ores and native sulphur deposits, have lost their economic value. Key words: Poland; mineral resources, deposits, resources, history of investigations Poland has resources of various useful minerals. Many resources, such as metals, was the domain of practics, the of them have been mined for ages and were traditionally prospectors and “treasure hunters”. Thus, from mining and regarded as typical for the country. Some gained importan- mineralogy a new discpline emerged, called first geognosy, ce only in recent decades, while others lost their value. then geology — a new science with its own research met- Among major economic minerals with long mining tra- hods and goals. One of the principal goals was expanding dition spanning several historical epochs are ores of zinc the knowledge on mineral deposits. and lead with silver, as well as black coal in the Upper and The oldest traces of mineral exploitation within the pre- Lower Silesia, though in the latter area it is merely of histo- sent teritory of Poland date back to the Palaeolithic and rical importance now. An important Polish raw material is Neolithic. Local flint served to produce primitive Palaeoli- rock salt, exploited in the Fore-Carpathian area since more thic tools found in many localities, especially in southern than nine hundred years. For centuries, another valuable Poland. Prehistoric open pits to dig flint are known along mineral resource, now obsolete, were bog iron ores. In the the northern rim of the Holy Cross Mountains, e.g., from th early 20 century, a substantial part of the world oil pro- Oroñsko and Wierzbica. An underground mine of duction came from the area of Poland. Nowadays, only world-wide fame is preserved in Krzemionki Opatowskie, about 4 percent of the national demand is satisfied by local where banded Jurassic flints were exploited in 2300–1800 oil exploitation. During the last half century, after the BC. Also during the Neolithic, basalt, amphibolite, serpen- discovery of large copper deposits near Legnica and tinite and nefrite were mined in the Lower Silesia (e.g., G³ogów, Poland has become a major producer of copper th Pazdur, 1960; Koz³owski, 1986). Pottery clays, abundant and silver. In the second half of the 20 century, following in Poland, were exploited as well, quern stones were manu- the discovery of large deposits of native sulphur in the factured and salt was obtained from brines. Fore-Carpathian zone, Poland was also a major sulphur There is still no reliable evidence of metal ores being exporter. However, the prosperity dwindled with the deve- exploited within the area of Poland during the Bronze Age. lopment of cheap methods of sulphur recuperation from oil During the Halstatt Period of the Iron Age, since about 500 and gas. Besides these basic mineral resources we have BC, bog ores were dug and processed in numerous primi- substantial quantities of such mineral resources as building tive smelting furnaces. The extensive metallurgy involved stones, ceramic clays and raw materials for cement produc- thousands of such furnaces; in Roman times, most of Euro- tion. pean production of iron concentrated in Poland (e.g., near This paper outlines the development of knowledge Warsaw). Traces of technologically more advanced under- about the distribution of mineral resources in Poland ground exploitation of hematite and siderite from Roman through the ages, as well as a brief history of their use. times (2nd and 3rd century AD) were found in Rudki in the Prehistoric beginnings Holy Cross Mountains (Pazdur, 1969; Adamski, 1994). Until the 13th century, salt was produced in Poland th The progress of civilization correlates with the deve- using brines. Since 7 century AD, a major salt-making lopment of human usage of tools and resources, including centre existed in Ko³obrzeg on the Baltic shore (Pazdur, the mineral resources. It is reflected in the division of 1960). human history into the Stone Age, Chalcolithic Age, Bron- th ze Age and Iron Age. Already the early humans knew the Later Middle Ages, till 15 century properties of many stones and the best ways to use them. Then metal ores were employed to provide raw material for In historical times, by the end of early medieval period, especially during the formation of the Polish state since the weapons and tools manufacturing. People started to search th for these resources, to exploit and process them. The deve- 10 century, began exploitation of building stones for the construction of defensive and monumental, mainly sacral, lopment of mining and metallurgy began. Geological th th knowledge about the presence of rocks and useful mineral structures. Building stones were quarried in the 9 and 10 centuries, e.g., in BrzeŸno (Wielkopolska), Piñczów (Ma³opolska) and near Lwówek Œl¹ski (Lower Silesia). Early medieval archaeological sites yielded also stone *Polish Geological Institute, Rakowiecka 4, utensils (such as whetstones, spindle whorls, fishnet 00-975 Warsaw, Poland weights) made of local material (Pazdur, 1960; Skoczylas, 744 Przegl¹d Geologiczny, vol. 52, no. 8/2, 2004 1994). Archaeological data indicate very early commence- tion continued during the rule of the first Polish dynasty in ment of exploitation of gold from the Lower Silesian placer the 10th–12th centuries. deposits (Legnica, Boles³awiec, Z³otoryja). 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