Gospodarka Surowcami Mineralnymi - Mineral Resources Management

This work is an attempt to determine the scale of threats to the mineral security of Poland in the area of non-energy raw materials resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In particular, it aims to identify those industries whose proper functioning may be threatened in the face of the limited supply of raw materials from three directions – Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. An element of the analysis was also the indication of possible alternative sources of the supply of these raw materials. For this purpose, the directions of imports to Poland of about 140 non-energy raw materials in 2011–2020 were analyzed. As a result, about thirty raw materials were selected, the supplies of which came from, among others, at least one of the three mentioned countries. To determine the raw materials for which the disruption of supplies may have the most serious impact on the functioning of the Polish economy, the following criteria were adopted: a minimum 20% share of these countries in covering the domestic demand in 2020, and a minimum value of these imports in 2020 of 20 million PLN. These threshold conditions were met by eight raw materials: iron ores and concentrates, carbon black, potash, aluminum, ferroalloys, nickel, ball clays and refractory clays, and synthetic corundum. Among these, the need to change the directions of supplies applies to the greatest extent to iron ores and concentrates, aluminum and nickel, while in the case of non-metallic raw materials, it applies most to ball clays and refractory clays and potassium salts. These are among the most important raw materials necessary for the proper functioning of the national economy, but their shortage or disruptions in the continuity of their supplies pose a real threat to the mineral security of Poland.

The aim of this article is to provide an overview of other alternative directions of coal supply to Poland following the February 2022 embargo on coal imports from Russia. Due to the dominant role of steam coal in imports to Poland, the authors focused on this type of coal. Analysis of the share of Russian steam coal imported into Poland in domestic consumption and production suggests that this commodity has played a relatively important role in the Polish market. In 2010–2021, between 4.8 and 12.9 million tonnes were imported annually from Russia to Poland, accounting for 8–25% of domestic steam-coal consumption. In 2018–2021, steam coal imported into Poland accounted for 22–29% of the volume of coal shipped by Russia to all EU -27 countries. In order to fill the gap left by Russian coal, this article considers alternative routes of coal supply to Poland, namely from Australia, Indonesia, Colombia, South Africa and the US, and presents the qualitative characteristics of the coal offered by these alternative routes of coal supply and traded on the international market. Between 2010 and 2021, steam-coal-price offers from these countries followed a consistent trend, with the difference between the minimum and maximum offer ranging from USD 5–32/tonne. As the steam coal supply of each of the analyzed routes of supply is fraught with some risk, the authors have also identified in the article those directions that may present some difficulties. It was found that coal offerings from Australia, South Africa, Indonesia and Colombia have low sulphur content (less than 1%), while coals from Australia and South Africa have relatively high ash content (from 12% to nearly 25%). Towards the end, the article also addresses issues related to the transport of coal to Poland and its dispatching within the country. As the analyzed alternative directions of coal imports involve importing this commodity by sea, the authors also analyzed the reloading capacity of Polish seaports and the rail transport fleet.

In Poland, there is a growing awareness of the need to change the sources of electricity and heat. An expression of this is the adoption of the document entitled Poland’s Energy Policy until 2040 (PEP 2040) in February 2020 by the Council of Ministers. The goal of the Polish Energy Policy until 2040 is “energy security – ensuring the competitiveness of the economy, energy efficiency and reducing the environmental impact of the energy sector – taking into account the optimal use of own energy resources”. In PEP 2040, the previous assumptions of the state’s long-term energy policy were amended and an increase in the use of low- or non-emission sources was declared. In addition, the energy policy guidelines contain forecasts for the production of steam coal and the demand for this raw material. Based on the provisions of the document, as well as forecasts of the coal-production volume prepared by the authors and the assessments of experts in the fields related to energy and mining, the article contains considerations on the validity of the developed forecasts together with the determination of the production capacity of domestic mining enterprises in terms of covering the demand for steam coal used for the production of electricity and heat. It is planned, inter alia, that blocks of coal-fired power plants will be decommissioned and, in their place, there is to be the expansion of solar and wind energy and the commissioning of the first blocks of a nuclear power plant. Such activities, which cause a decrease in the demand for coal, are also related to the plans of changes in the functioning of mining enterprises – there will be successive closures of individual mines and mining plants.

The cement industry has been using waste as a raw material for many years. Waste is also used as alternative fuel. Cement plants are an important element of the waste management system and fit the idea of a circular economy. When waste is recovered in the cement production process, direct and indirect CO ₂ emissions are partially avoided. This article discusses the cement industry in Poland. The current situation in terms of the use of alternative fuels and raw materials in Poland, the different types of waste and the amount of waste used is discussed. The article discusses changes in the amount of waste (the increase in the amount of waste used as raw materials from the year 2006 to the year 2019) and the types of waste recovered in the cement production process and the possibility of closing material cycles on the plant scale (recycling to the primary process – cement kiln dust) and industry (using waste from other industries: metallurgy – granulated blast furnace slag, iron bearings; energy production – fly ash, reagypsum/phosphogypsum, fluidized bed combustion fly ash, and fluidized bed combustion bottom ash; wastewater treatment plants – sewage sludge, etc.). The analysis shows that the role of cement plants in waste management and the circular economy in Poland is important. Industrial waste from metallurgy, power plants, heat and power plants, wastewater treatment plants, and municipal waste is used as the raw material for the cement industry, leading to an industrial symbiosis.

This paper presents the results of a cost-effectiveness analysis and a cost-benefit analysis for the production of X-type zeolites from fly ash.
Positive results of the laboratory tests on the quality of zeolites derived from fly ash initiated a cost analysis on the production of this materials on an industrial scale. The cost-effectiveness analysis was conducted using the dynamic generation cost indicator (DGC). The calculated DGC expresses the technical manufacturing cost of 1 Mg of synthetic zeolites. Whereas the cost-benefit analysis (CBA) was completed using the economic net present value (ENP V) and the economic internal rate of return (EIRR ) indicators.
The calculated unit technical cost of producing 1 Mg of zeolites using an installation consisting of five reactors with a capacity of 25 m3 each is 211 EUR and is lower than the current market price of this product, including transportation costs. This proves the financial viability of the investment. The calculations of the economic efficiency of the installation (CBA method) show that it is fully economically viable to operate and use the products from a social point of view.

Bioleaching research considers both the bio- and anthroposphere in the search for novel ways to recover resources and elements, which is important to the concept of sustainable development. Since the efficient, cost-effective and simple recovery of resources is of increasing importance in the circular economy model, the bioleaching of metals is a method currently gaining interest. The process is also of importance considering the need for the neutralization of waste materials/resources that allow for their safe storage and use. In this study, Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans bacteria, which is commonly found and widely utilized in the bioleaching process due to its high tolerance to heavy metals, was used in a twenty-eight-day experiment. The manner in which bacteria inhabit incineration residues was observed using fluorescence optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The concentration of elements in incineration residues and in the post-reaction solutions was measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and the efficiency of element recovery was calculated based on the results. Municipal waste incineration bottom ash and sewage sludge incineration fly ash were considered in the experiment. The extraction rates were far from satisfactory, with the average 20 and 50% for bottom ash and sewage sludge ash, respectively. The obtained results were consistent with microscopic observations where the relative number of bacteria increased only slightly over time in the sewage-sludge fly ash and was barely observed in the bottom ash of municipal- -waste incineration.

The paper presents new data on the Miocene development within the Upper Silesian Coal Basin. The Miocene succession of the study area is characterized by high thickness and highly variable lithology. In the Miocene sediments of the studied area, the presence of organic matter in the form of a coal layer, coal crumbs, and dispersed organic matter has been found. The research focused mainly on the analysis of organic matter in terms of its origin, degree of coalification, and depositional environment. The degree of coalification of organic matter was determined by the huminite/vitrinite reflectance. The hard brown coal layer with a thickness of about eight meters was identified within the Kłodnica Formation. Based on the textural properties and degree of coalification, brown coal was classified as dull brown coal and bright brown coal. Organic matter in the form of coal crumbs and dispersed organic matter were found within a package clastic sedimentary. On the basis of petrographic analysis, two types of allochthonous organic matter with different degrees of coalification were identified. The coal clasts are mainly of Carboniferous origin, while the Miocene redeposited brown coal grains dominate within the dispersed organic matter. Coal fragments and dispersed organic matter derived from the Miocene brown coal were also found within the black claystones. The study of organic matter of the Miocene sediments in the Upper Silesian Coal Basin showed both its autochthonous and allochthonous origins.

In this study, a three-level Box-Behnken design of experiments combined with response surface methodology used to investigate the effects of the feed density, feed pressure and vortex finder diameter on the separation results (ash content and yield of the overflow) of a water-only cyclone. The coal used in the study was supplied from Soma, Turkey and crushed to below 1 mm. Experiments were conducted using a watter-only cyclone (WOC) which was operated in a closed-circuit test rig, overflow and underflow streams were collected and were sieved through 0.1 mm to simulate dewatering screens.The actual data collected from the tests were used to construct the empirical models representing clean coal ash and yield as process responses to the independent variables. The significance test of model fit for clean coal ash and yield were performed using analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results showed that ash content and yield of the clean coal models were significant.The results showed that with an increase in vortex finder diameter (VFD), feed density (FD) and inlet pressure (IP), ash content and yield of the clean coal increases. The results suggested that all main parameters affected the ash content and yield of the clean coal to some degree. The significance order of the effect of the variables on the ash content and yield was found as FD > VFD > IP and VFD > IP > FD respectively. The results of the numerical optimization in the range of the experimental data showed that it is possible to reduce the ash content of clean coal from 42.21 to 18.89.

The exploration of mineral resources is an area of strategic importance for the pace of further development of all industries. The results of companies deciding to carry out exploration work depend on further investments of mining companies, i.e. the entities purchasing full deposit documentation. Being at the beginning of the entire mining process, junior mines assume a high risk related to investments enabling the commencement of works without providing high guarantees of the project’s success. Companies running these types of projects must seek funding in a variety of ways. One of these is to try to raise capital from the stock trading markets. However, the specificity of junior companies does not allow them to start on the main trading floors, hence the decision to enter alternative markets. In considering the broader context of the activities of junior mines, research was conducted on companies listed on the London Alternative Investment Market (AIM). In the first part, this concerned the market characteristics – the market value added values were determined for selected ranges of market capitalization. In the second part, which is a statistical study, factors that may affect their market value was checked. The analysis covered both traditional value drivers – related to revenues, the demand for net working capital, investment expenses and the cost of equity – and their supplementation with selected values of financial statements. The result of the analysis is a regression equation indicating the factors that have a statistically significant impact on the market value of junior mines listed on AIM London.

The distribution of net profit is one of the basic problems of the financial strategy of companies. The amount of retained earnings affects the level of investment and the pace of their development, whereas the level of dividends translates into stock prices. Therefore, it is assumed that maintaining the right proportions in the distribution of net profit into the retained part and the part transferred to the shareholders will translate into the company’s value. The first part of the paper contains theoretical considerations on macroeconomic, microeconomic and the capital market determinants influencing companies’ distribution of net profit. A large group of microeconomic factors – long-term trends in changes of net profit, shareholder structure, the company’s life cycle and its investment opportunities – as well as a selection of financing sources facilitating the attainment of the optimal capital structure are discussed. The most important macroeconomic factors include the economic situation, the level of inflation, sector specifics and the situation on the stock market. The authors present the results of empirical research in which they assume that the dividend yield of companies from the oil and gas sector influences the value of the company depending on the level of investments shaping the book value of shares, and that the dividend yield affects the duration of the return on capital expressed as the price to net profit ratio, and thus the level of company risk. The calculated Pearson linear correlation coefficients show an insignificant influence of the dividend yield on the value of companies from the oil and gas sector. This value is determined by a number of other factors. The study is based on statistical data for 2010–2020 derived from Warsaw Stock Exchange Yearbooks.

The asbestos removal in Poland is carried out based on the Programme of Country Cleaning from Asbestos for the Years 2009–2023. Pursuant to this document asbestos-containing materials should be removed from the territory of the whole country by the end of 2032. The pace of asbestoscontaining products removal was estimated and also the time necessary to implement this process. These figures were estimated using two resources of data. The data gathered in the Asbestos Database (Asbestos Database... 2022) were analysed, and the analysis of detailed stocktaking and its update for 20 selected communes of various nature was carried out. The pace of removing in the analysed communes is definitely diversified. The obtained values generally range from 0.28 to 6.35 kg/R/y (kg per resident/year). An averaged pace of asbestos removal for the entire country is from 2.24 to 3.65 kg/R/y, depending on the adopted method of calculations. The analysis has shown that considering the current pace of asbestos-containing products removing, these materials will not be removed from the area of Poland by the set date, i.e. by the end of 2032. In individual provinces the amount of asbestos and the pace of removal are drastically different. Retaining the current pace of asbestoscontaining products removing, such products will disappear from Poland only within 27–193 years, depending on the province. An average pace of removal, given for the country scale, allows to state that 83 years are needed for the total removal of asbestos products.