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Mineral resources of Poland> Rock raw materials and others> Dimension and crushed stones
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Dimension and crushed stones

General information and occurrence

The group of mineral raw minerals, assigned in “The balance…” to the dimension and crushed stones (other name: road and building stones) comprises 33 lithological varieties of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks displaying properties which make them useful in a domestic economy. The stones meeting the appropriate requirements are used for the production of crushed aggregates – a high-grade raw material for the building, road and railway construction and stone elements for the road construction (stone for paving roads, stone and stone plates for sidewalks, stone street curbing and curb ramps) and the building construction (stone blocks, decorative plates for elevation and facade, floor plates and slabs).

Deposits of the igneous and metamorphic rocks occur mainly in the southern part of Poland – in the area of the following Voivodeships: Dolnośląskie (basalts, granites, granodiorites, syenites, diabases, gabbros, melaphyres, porphyres, porphyric tuffs, amphibolites, serpentinites, greenstones, gneisses, migmatites, crystalline schists, marbles), Opolskie (basalts, granites, gneisses, marbles) and Małopolskie (diabases, melaphyres, porphyres and porphyric tuffs). Sedimentary rocks are much more common. Limestones and dolomites form numerous deposits located in the area of Dolnośląskie, Łódzkie, Małopolskie, Śląskie and Świętokrzyskie Voivodeships, sandstones in the area of Dolnośląskie, Łódzkie, Małopolskie, Podkarpackie, Śląskie and Świętokrzyskie Voivodeships, whereas limestones, opokas and marls in the area of south-eastern Poland Voivodeships (Lubelskie and Podkarpackie).

Resources and output

The anticipated economic resources of dimension and crushed stones as of the end of 2022 amounted to 11,727.21 million tonnes. They increased by 111.77 million tonnes, that is by 0.96% in comparison with the previous year. The number of deposits grew from 746 (in 2021) to 750 (in 2022) – 7 new deposits were documented and 3 deposit was not included in “The balance…” as they were crossed out from the registry. The most numerous are represented the sedimentary rocks deposits– by 548 deposits accounting for 69.7% of the total deposits number. The number of the documented igneous rocks deposits is equal 176 (accounting for 22.4% of the total deposits number), whereas the metamorphic rocks deposits amount to 62 (accounting for 7.9% of the total deposits number). It should be noted that in dozen or so deposits, more than one lithological type of the raw material occur.

The location of dimension and crushed stones deposits is presented on two separeted maps - for South-Western Poland and for South-Eastern Poland.

The anticipated economic resources of sedimentary rocks represent 47.6% of the total resources (5,577.68 million tonnes), of igneous rocks 39.8% of the resources (4,663.25 million tonnes) and of metamorphic rocks 12.6% (1,486.27 million tonnes). The most significant resources growth was recorded for the sedimentary rocks i.e. by 55.97 million tonnes (it means by 1.01%) – mainly due to the increases within sandstones, dolomites and limestones. The resources of the igneous and metamorphic rocks increased by 38.07 million tonnes (0.82%) and by 17.73 million tonnes (1.21%), respectively – the most visible resources growths were noted for granites and amphibolites.

About 54.6% of the anticipated economic resources of the given group of raw materials i.e. 6,407.28 million tonnes include 312 exploited deposits (exploited continuously and temporarily). In the group of non-exploited deposits there are 200 deposits covered by the detailed exploration with the resources equal 2,596.81 million tonnes (accounting for 22.1% of the total resources) and 47 deposits covered by the preliminary exploration with the resources equal 1,778.73 million tonnes (accounting for 15.32% of the total resources). The resources of 191 deposits in which the exploitation was abandoned amount to 944.39 million tonnes accounting for 8.1% of the total geological resources of the dimension and crushed stones.

Table 1 shows the current state of the exploration and development of the dimension and crushed stones.

The economic resources amounted to 3,978.57 million tonnes in 2022, increasing by 244.65 million tonnes (6.6%) in comparison with 2021. These changes resulted from the elaboration of new deposit development plans and supplements to such plans, and also from the exploitation and losses.

The anticipated economic resources growth in 2022 was connected with the documentation of new deposits, the extending of existing deposits boundaries, the more detailed exploration of the deposits and the reclassification and verification of the resources. The resources increase due to:

  • the extension of the deposits areas or deepening of their range (the total resources growth by 182.62 million tonnes): the granite deposit Gniewków (the growth by 63.80 million tonnes), the amphibolite deposit Ogorzelec I (25.57 million tonnes), the dolomite deposit Winna (23.46 million tonnes), the limestone deposit Łagów IV (23.37 million tonnes), the sandstone deposit Lipowica II-1 (22.76 million tonnes), the dolomite deposit Wszachów III (6.34 million tonnes), the greywacke sandstone deposit Młynów (4.91 million tonnes), the dolomite deposit Komorniki 1 (4.20 million tonnes), the limestone and dolomite deposit Imielin-Rek (3.49 million tonnes), the granite deposit Morawa-Wschód (2.31 million tonnes), the limestone deposit Sławno (1.73 million tonnes) and the sandstone deposit Walowa Góra (0.59 million tonnes);
  • including 7 newly documented deposits into “The balance…” with the total resources equal 17.54 million tonnes – the limestone deposit Łagów VI (the growth by 7.25 million tonnes), the sandstone deposits: Szkucin (3.65 million tonnes), Bysina 5 (1.89 million tonnes), Bysina 4 (1.75 million tonnes), Czchów (1.65 million tonnes), Sielec V (0.87 million tonnes) and Łodygowice II (0.48 million tonnes);
  • the more detailed deposit exploration, the resources reclassification and recalculation, the current verification and updating of resources at the level of 2.76 million tonnes.

The anticipated economic resources drop of dimension and crushed stones in 2022 was the result of:

  • the ongoing exploitation (79.94 million tonnes);
  • the changes of documentation boundaries together with the resources updating for the limestone deposit Kodrąb-2 and the sandstone deposits: Manasterz and Obłaziec-Gahura (the total drop by 6.92 million tonnes);
  • the updating and recalculation of resources, the better deposits exploration and the settlement of the exploitation losses – the total drop by 3.75 million tonnes;
  • crossing out 2 limestone deposits from the domestic registry: Rakowiczki and Wyżne-Podwiszówka (the total drop by 0.54 million tonnes).

According to the data provided by the concession holders of the exploited deposits, the output of dimension and crushed stones amounted in 2022 to 79.94 million tonnes and increased in comparison with 2021 by 0.82 million tonnes (1.04%). In terms of the output volume, the most important are the sedimentary rocks: limestones and dolomites (accounting for 43.15% of the total domestic output – 34.50 million tonnes) and sandstones – accounting for 11.74% of the total output – 9.39 million tonnes. Among the igneous rocks the following types of rocks are the most significant regarding the output volumes: granites (10.05 million tonnes, accounting for 13.82% of the total output), basalts (7.53 million tonnes – 9.42%), melaphyres (3.79 million tonnes – 4.75%) and gabbros (2.55 million tonnes – 3.19%). The metamorphic rocks are of the minor importance considering the output of solid rocks – there should only be mentioned migmatites (2.77 million tonnes – 3.47%) and amphibolites (2.37 million tonnes – 2.98%). In comparison with 2021, the output of sedimentary rocks decreased by 1.99% (0.90 million tonnes), whereas for igneous and metamorphic rocks increased by 5.97% (1.57 million tonnes) and 1.97% (0.15 million tonnes), respectively.

In the structure of dimension and crushed stones output there are small ranges dominating (below 50 thousand tonnes annually) – such mines account for about 45% of the total number of extractive plants (active). Nevertheless, their total share in the domestic output is minor – below 2%, whereas their share in the domestic documented anticipated economic resources is only about 3%. Mining plants with the annual output level exceeding 1 million tonnes are of the highest importance. Deposits with such level of exploitation account for nearly 11% of the total number of extractive plants (active) and contain less than 19% of the domestic documented resources, but their share in the domestic output is much higher – nearly 50%.

The rock mining is traditionally concentrated within the area of 2 Voivodeships: Dolnośląskie which accounts for 42.25% of the domestic output of the dimension and crushed stones (264 deposits and 52.2% of the domestic resources) and Świętokrzyskie with the share in the total output of 32.11% (143 deposits and 21.5% of the domestic resources). Then comes Małopolskie Voivodeship accounting for 12.72% of the total output (105 deposits and 10.9% of the domestic resources) and the following Voivodeships: Śląskie (4.91% of the domestic output), Opolskie (4.10%) and Podkarpackie (3.26%). The total share of the remaining Voivodeships (Lubelskie, Łódzkie and Mazowieckie) in the total domestic output is less than 0.65%.

Dimension and crushed stones are being also obtained during the brown coal exploitation. In 2022 there were 4.95 thousand tonnes of erratic boulders and nearly 1.14 million tonnes of limestones exploited in KWB Bełchatów SA mine (the Szczerców field).

The figure given below shows changes in domestic resources and production of dimension and crushed stones in Poland in the years 1989-2022.

Table 2 shows the current state of exploration and development and production with breakdown of individual lithological types of rocks used in road and building construction.

The resources volumes, the state of deposits development and the output amounts divided into the lithological types of rocks documented as dimension and crushed stones are presented in Table 3.

The prospective resources of dimension and crushed stone were assessed to be equal about 36,921 million tonnes, whereas the biggest resources are located in the area of Małopolskie Voivodeship (53.4% of the total resources), Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (16.4% of the total resources), Śląskie Voivodeship (13.0% of the total resources) and Dolnośląskie Voivodeship (10.7% of the total resources)*. The assessed prognostic resources of dimension and crushed stones amount to about 33,208 million tonnes and their occurrence is concentrated in Dolnośląskie Voivodeship (82.3% of the total resources) and Śląskie Voivodeship (13.4% of the total resources). The prospective and prognostic resources are concentrated mainly within the area of 4 Vovivodeships: Dolnośląskie, Małopolskie, Śląskie and Świętokrzyskie, which is in line with the current mining centers of this raw material from documented deposits. With regard to lithology, the largest resources are formed by the sedimentary rocks (32,867 million tonnes of prospective resources and 5,845 million tonnes of prognostic resources – these are mainly sandstones, limestones and dolomites), then metamorphic rocks (765 million tonnes of prospective resources and 23,905 million tonnes of prognostic resources – mainly gneisses) and then – igneous rocks (3,289 million tonnes of prospective resources and 3,458 million tonnes of prognostic resources – mainly granodiorites and granites).


Prepared by: Dariusz Brzeziński, Wojciech Miśkiewicz

* Brzeziński D., Miśkiewicz W., 2020 - "Kamienie łamane i bloczne (crushed and dimension stones), kamienie drogowe i budowlane (road and building stones)". In: "Bilans perspektywicznych zasobów kopalin Polski wg stanu na 31.12.2018 r." (eds. Szamałek K., Szuflicki M., Mizerski W.): 297-304. PIG-PIB, Warszawa [in Polish].