Gospodarka Surowcami Mineralnymi - Mineral Resources Management

The global development of electromobility and the innovation of life are becoming increasingly noticeable. A direct implication of this is the increase in demand for modern products and services, their components and thus the raw materials necessary to produce them (e.g. cobalt, lithium, rare earth metals). In the European Union (EU), raw materials related to strategic sectors – renewable energy, electric mobility, defense and aerospace and digital technologies – show a very strong dependence on import throughout the entire value chain. In the case of eleven out of thirty of the so-called critical raw materials (CRM), necessary for the energy transition, the EU’s dependence on import exceeds 85%. Global supply chains, which had already been strained, were further affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the exacerbated geopolitical situations leading to even greater shortages of critical raw materials in Europe and leaving the industry facing challenges in securing access to resources. An implication of this was the European Parliament’s position on critical raw material legislation in September 2023, which called on the EU to increase its processing capacity across the value chain and enable the production of at least 40% of the annual consumption of strategic raw materials by 2030.
Growing importance in the transition to a low-emission economy is attributed to cobalt (Co), which is an essential component both in the production of electric vehicles (EV), stationary energy storage and in the developing sectors of wind energy, fuel cell systems and hydrogen storage technologies, robotics, unmanned vehicles (drones) and 3D printing as well as in digital technologies. Securing the supply of such raw material is crucial for the European Union’s economic resilience, technological advantage and strategic autonomy.
The purpose of this article is to present and analyze the concept of value chains as strategic models of long-term development and ensuring efficiency from a sustainable perspective. According to the authors, a detailed analysis of value chains may enable defining strategic directions of action and identifying the risks of their disruption or interruption. To give a practical dimension to the presented analyses, the example of the cobalt value chain is provided and the determinants of its functioning on the current market along with development prospects are indicated.

During the extraction of nuclear raw materials, rare earths and other elements from ores containing uranium and thorium, various types of radioactive waste and some recovery tailings are generated. Mining and ore processing residues, i.e. waste and tailings, present a variety of problems related to waste management. Their bulky structure prevents their disposal underground, and their long radioactive half-life causes various problems with regard to their long-term storage. As a matter of fact, the secondary presence of nuclear raw materials together with other minerals requires compliance with hazardous waste procedures in the storage of waste containing nuclear raw materials after the recovery of these main minerals. It may be possible in the future to recover these nuclear raw materials from stockpiles of stored mine waste. The prospect of imbalances in the global uranium supply and demand increases the importance of secondary sources contributing to the global uranium supply. The increasing importance of secondary sources of nuclear raw materials suggests that more attention should be paid to the recovery of these resources together with primary minerals than in the past. In world literature, there is no review article that describes and discusses the waste management of nuclear raw materials in mining and mineral processing together with the opportunities and obstacles for their recovery. Considering this deficiency in the literature, in this study, the properties of waste and tailings resulting from mining and ore preparation activities of nuclear raw materials are explained, the difficulties encountered are mentioned, and solution suggestions are presented by making use of the literature on the recovery of tailings and waste management.

Phosphate rocks and elemental phosphorus are considered to be critical raw materials mainly because of such parameters as the growing prices of phosphate fertilizers, the high concentration of producers limited to several countries in the world, the exceptional significance of phosphorus in agriculture and the inability to substitute it.
In Poland 100% of the demand phosphate rocks relies on import. The expansion and mining of the nation’s own resource base may be an alternative to import and a way to provide safety of supplies. Historically, phosphorites from the northern margin of the Holy Cross Mountains were extracted using the underground method, which was abandoned in the beginning of the 1970s due to the unprofitability of extraction. However, in eastern and south-eastern Poland, phosphorite concretions of the Eocene age occur at shallow depths, which can have local significance as mineral deposits and might be extracted in open-pit mines. The economics of mining in shallow opencasts do not require such stringent limiting parameters for phosphate deposits as those currently valid, which were established for underground mining conditions.
In this publication, the authors analyzed contemporary conditions for a cost-effective phosphorite deposit, including the price fluctuations of phosphate rock, a review of threshold parameters of deposits for phosphorite projects in the world, and the economics of open-pit ore extraction, where an aggregate mine with mixed extraction (partially from below the water table) was adopted as a point of reference.
As a result, new threshold parameters defining an ore deposit and its boundaries are proposed for Eocene phosphorites in Poland.

The mineralogy and chemistry of Upper Cretaceous-Lower Paleocene claystone sediments from Mardin and Batman, southeastern Turkey, were analyzed. The main mineral paragenesis in the Upper Cretaceous member formed chlorite-smectite (C-S) and illite, while the Lower Paleocene member occurred of chlorite-vermiculite (C-V) and vermiculite minerals. The clays were silica-poor but indicated high values of Al, Fe, Mg, Cr, Ni, V, and Zr. Lower contents of the alkali elements (Na, Ca, Mg, K) of the clayey sediments suggests a relatively denser weathering of the source area. The mineralogical compositions, major element ratios, trace, and rare earth element (REE ) contents of the sediments show that the Upper Cretaceous member consists of materials with a mainly felsic source lithology, while relatively contributions from basic sources are found in the Lower Paleocene unit. A comparison of the major and trace element contents of the phyllosilicate/clay minerals with the members revealed that the patterns of the clays were different from each other, although the enrichments/ decreases varied depending on the origin (basement rocks or detrital) of the derived rocks, minerals, and elements. REE content of clays increased from detrital to phyllosilicate/clay minerals of chemical/diagenetic/neoformation origin during the Lower Paleocene. During the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods, local or regional geodynamic and diagenetic events largely governed the rock sedimentation processes and provenance variations amongst Germav Formation members.

The paper presents the results of the valorization of sand and gravel aggregate deposits in Poland. The study aims to identify the most valuable deposits of potentially strategic importance that require protection. Undeveloped gravel deposits (gravel content above 70%) with resources exceeding 10 million tons and sand and gravel deposits (gravel content 25–70%) with resources above 20 million tons were selected for analysis. The valorization of deposits was carried out using two multi-criteria methodologies. The first of them was proposed by Nieć and Radwanek-Bąk (2013, 2014), while the second one was developed as part of the MINATU RA 2020 project (Galos et al. 2016). They include criteria regarding a degree of geological knowledge, raw material quality and quantity, mining attractiveness, and the accessibility of deposits for future exploitation resulting from environmental and land-use conditions. Out of 4,110 undeveloped deposits that constitute the national resource base for producing sand and gravel aggregates, only 8 gravel deposits and 64 sand and gravel deposits exceeded the threshold set for the volume of resources. As a result of the valorization, it was determined that most of the analyzed deposits, which can be considered as deposits of potentially strategic importance at the regional level, have limited availability due to environmental and land-use conditions. Only one gravel deposit and 7 sand and gravel deposits have simultaneously high resource quantity and quality and favorable geological and mining, environmental, and land-use conditions. The article also presents some recommendations regarding the need to adapt the valorization criteria to the specificity of deposits recognized for sand and gravel aggregate production.

The volatility of raw material prices and the rising prices of CO2 emission allowances when using fossil fuels to produce electricity and heat are still relevant problems for owners of generating units. The decision-making tools are used in the fuel purchase process. However, these tools should also consider environmental issues.
The article’s main objective is a quantitative analysis of the potential for reducing costs associated with supplying and using hard coal in public power plants as a result of considering the costs of environmental protection and CO2 emission allowances in the process of planning this fuel supply. A mathematical model was developed to optimize the supply of hard coal for the power industry. The tool and elaborated research scenarios made it possible to calculate and analyze the impact of considering the costs of emissions of harmful substances into the environment and CO2 emission allowances on the planning of coal supplies and the reduction of costs related to acquiring and using coal by public power plants. The calculation results were presented on the example of the Polish power sector.
The model’s results confirm that the appropriate selection of coals, taking into account the quality parameters determining the amount of emissions of harmful substances, reduces the amount of these emissions and the total costs of acquiring and using coal in electricity production. However, depending on the considered scenario, the scale of this impact varies. The results of the optimization of coal supplies to power plants and their proper interpretation may constitute an important contribution to making management decisions in energy companies.

According to various sources, between approximately 8.5 and even 10 million tons of Russian coal entered Polish market in 2022, which was mainly used for heating purposes by heating companies and private households (especially in the northern regions of the country). A ban on the continuation of these imports requires the identification of other sources of fuel – these could be either imports from other countries or an increase in mining volumes by domestic mines. However, both of these alternatives require a certain amount of time to be realized. Finding new foreign suppliers entails new contracts, which can be all the more difficult as many other countries, like Poland, no longer want to buy Russian coal. And then there is the issue of negotiating appropriate prices.
A possible decision to increase domestic mining is linked to other problems. This requires, first and foremost, that new portions of the deposits that could be mined be made available and cut in advance, which often entails several years of underground roadworks and significant financial outlays for their implementation and for the appropriate technical equipment of the newly prepared mining faces. With appropriate financial support from the state, this may be possible but not in every mine as there are a number of other considerations that determine the volume of extraction that can be achieved, particularly if there is a desire to increase it.
The aim of this publication is to present, analyse and identify factors that directly influence the volume of hard coal production, taking into account the dynamically changing market environment.

This article presents the results of a study of the determinants of energy transformation of coal-dependent regions. The case study was on the region of Silesia. This region is the main producer of hard coal and coking coal in Poland, with nineteen mines and numerous coal-fired power plants. Silesia is highly industrialized and urbanized, contributing significantly to Poland’s GDP. However, it is also a leader in terms of methane and carbon dioxide emissions. The study used an approach based on Alvin L. Bertrand’s ‘stress-strain’ theory, to investigate the socio-cultural stresses emerging as a result of the interaction of external factors and internal process dynamics within the region itself. Then, using Marc Wolfram’s systems-based analytical framework approach, the current transformative capacity of Silesia was analyzed. The theoretical framework adopted assumes that socio-cultural stress can be inferred from past situations of tension, influencing the social structure of the region and shaping accepted patterns of adaptation to change. Socio-cultural stress emerges as a key determinant of a region’s coping strategy and shapes its ability to transform in the long term. The research approach presented in this article adopts a comprehensive framework that integrates socio-cultural, socio-ecological and technological dimensions, providing a holistic view of a region’s transformation challenges and opportunities. The research was conducted using focus group interviews and a structured interview questionnaire. Participants in the research were individuals representing a diverse community of experts and activists involved in the energy transition process in Silesia, including local government officials, businesses, professional associations and social activists.

This article presents the results of research on the importance of access to critical raw materials for the development of wind energy in Poland. The authors have built a set of factors that can potentially influence this development. Twenty-four explanatory variables were taken into account, which were assigned to five categories. The amount of demand for mineral resources related to the development of wind technology was determined using a computer programwritten by the authors. The importance of individual factors was verified using the ARMAX model. As a result of this, it was possible to identify the explanatory variables that significantly affect the volume of wind energy production in Poland. The group of mineral resources includes critical metals that are necessary for the production of wind turbines. These are rare earth elements, copper, nickel, boron and manganese. The ARMAX model enables the examination of the relationship between the explained variable and the explanatory variables. Optimization of the model parameters was performed by limiting the mean square error. During the validation of the model, the VIF (variance inflation factor), Dickey-Fuller and Doornik-Hansen tests were used. The ARMAX validation also consisted of selecting the model characterized by the lowest value of information criteria and determining ex post errors, including the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE). In addition, the nature of individual independent variables was determined, i.e. whether they were stimulants, nominants, or destimulants. The forecast made it possible to verify the possibility of meeting the assumptions of the Polish Energy Policy until 2040. It showed that if the development trends of the factors that affect wind energy do not change, it would be possible to meet the assumptions of PEP2040 regarding the dynamic development of wind farms in Poland and double the generation capacity by 2030. Analysis using the ARMAX model showed that access to raw materials such as REE, Cu, Ni, Br and Mn would have a very significant impact on the development of wind energy in Poland. Each factor of the raw material category that was introduced into the model was considered statistically significant at the significance level of α = 0.01, i.e. at the lowest acceptable risk of error. Therefore, the raw material base would be of key importance to ensure access to wind energy at the level adopted in PEP2040.

In the Motongkad prospect, East Bolaang Mongondow Regency, North Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, an epithermal gold mineralization occurred, hosted in andesitic-basaltic breccia, lava and tuff members the middle Miocene volcanic rock (Tmv). The Volcanic Rock is intruded by andesite dikes and contains fine quartz veins. Gold, silver, and pyrite found in the quartz veins.
This study consists of two main stages, field works and laboratory works. The field works were performed in whole area of the Motongkad prospect, where fresh and altered rock and mineralization samples were collected randomly, selectively, and systematically from outcrops as well as from a test pit. The laboratory works include petrography, X-ray diffraction (XRD), ore microscopy, and chemical analysis using the atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) method.
The study area is arranged by three lithology units. Stratigraphically, the units are andesite rhyolite and tuff. The hydrothermal alteration in the study area are classified in five zones, namely: quartzsericite, quartz-sericite-clay, quartz-calcite-sericite-chlorite, quartz-calcite-sericite, and quartz-calcite- kaolinite. Motongkad prospect mineralization consists of two types, namely the vein type and the disseminated type. The ore minerals found in the Motongkad prospect are gold, pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, covellite, chalcocite, bornite and tennantite. We conclude that gold mineralization and its associated minerals in the Motongkad prospect are hydrothermal mineralization with epithermal characteristics.
Based on the results of mineragraphic analysis, there are two types of gold-bearing minerals found, namely native gold minerals and electrum, which are generally hosted by pyrite. Based on the distribution map of alteration and mineralization that has been made, it is recommended that the company wish to conduct mining with the highest gold content in the quartz-sericite and quartz-sericite- clay alteration zones, which are in the range of 0.83–1.07 g/t.

Opal can be found in several locations, including America, Tanzania, Brazil, Mexico, East Africa, Indonesia and Australia, which is now the world’s top producer of black opal. One of the most economically valuable gems in the world is the mineraloid opal. In the Rongkong area, opal is found in the host rock of volcanic igneous rock, namely andesite. This study aims to determine the opal mineraloid host-rock’s microstructural characteristics and the elemental and compound content of the opal mineraloid host-rock’s geochemistry in the Rongkong area, Indonesia. The research took three samples in the field as large as hand specimens. The three samples were one host-rock sample and two opal mineraloid samples; the samples were then prepared and analyzed in the laboratory. Laboratory analysis was performed using SEM-EDS, XRF and petrographic analyses. The results of the SEM-EDS test analysis showed that most opal mineraloid carrier rock constituents are aluminum and oxide. This can be seen from the substantial Al and O content. In samples 1 and 2, Al, O, Ca and P with the highest composition of chemical compounds are Al2O3, CaO, and P2O5. The Rongkong opal mineraloid from Limbong Village, Rongkong District, North Luwu Regency, South Sulawesi, based on the results of XRF analysis, contains the chemical compounds SiO2, Al2O3, K2O, Fe2O3, CaO, TiO2, RuO2, SrO, MnO, V2O5, Rb2O, Ag2O and CuO. The content compound that is more dominant in opal mineraloids is SiO2 due to silicate enrichment in the forming of opal mineraloids.