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Mineral resources of Poland> Rock raw materials and others> Dolomites
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Dolomites

Dolomite is widely used in glass and ceramic industry, as a flux for smelting iron and steel, and in production of fireproof raw materials and cement. Moreover, it is also used in agriculture as raw material for production of calcium-magnesium mineral fertilizers. Dolomite is also used in construction industry and road construction as building and crushed stone. These uses are discussed in the section on dimension and crushed stones.

The majority of pure dolomite deposits occur in areas of the Silesian and Lower Silesian regions and Małopolskie Voivodeship. Raw materials from these deposits are characterized by the best quality and match economic criteria of a flux for smelting iron and steel. The deposits are of the stratified type and Devonian or Triassic in age, as for examples those from Żelatowa, Brudzowice and Ząbkowice Będzińskie deposits.

Deposits of dolomites usable as a raw material for ceramic industry occur in the Lower Silesian region. The dolomites form lenses in metamorphic schists. The best known of these dolomite deposits are situated at Rędziny in the vicinities of Jelenia Góra and in the area of the Kłodzko Basin.

Dolomite deposits occurrence is presented on the map.

The table 1 shows resources and the state of development and exploration of the dolomite deposits.

Anticipated economic resources amounted to 531.69 million tonnes in 2015 and increased by 128.21 million tonnes in comparison with the previous year. It was due to the taking into account the new calculations of resources approved in 2009 for Chruszczobród deposit (+126.77 million tonnes) and new calculations of resources for Ząbkowice Będzińskie I deposit (+3.23 million tonnes) accepted in 2015. The drops within resources in Rędziny, Żelatowa, Brudzowice and Chruszczobród 2 deposits were caused by exploitation and losses (total 1.78 million tonnes).

Anticipated economic resources of exploited deposits amounted to 237.59 million tonnes in 2015 and accounted for 44.7% of total anticipated economic resources. The resources covered by the detailed exploration were equal 373.68 million tonnes (70.3% of total anticipated economic resources). Such resources within exploited deposits accounted for 98.4% of anticipated economic resources (233.81 million tonnes).

Economic resources of dolomites decreased by 2.79 million tonnes and were equal 125.49 million tonnes. These resources accounted for only 23.6% of total anticipated economic resources.

Production of dolomite was equal 2,943 thousand tonnes in 2015, decreasing by 188.03 thousand tonnes (6%) in relation to the previous year (Table 2). The growths were recorded for Rędziny (by 1.97 thousand tonnes), Chruszczobród 2 (by 19.43 thousand tonnes) and Ząbkowice Będzińskie I (by 148.04 thousand tonnes) deposits. The production from Żelatowa deposit dropped by 93.27 thousand tonnes and from Brudzowice deposit by 264.2 thousand tonnes in comparison with the previous year.

The figure given below shows changes in domestic resources and production of dolomite in Poland in the years 1989-2015.

Prepared by: Marcin Tymiński