Mineral deposits of Poland

elective courses

Basic knowledge on the geology of mineral deposits, regional geology of Poland, mineralogy and geochemistry. Students must be able to use the transmitted and reflected light microscopy methods.

During the class, the students learn how to identify rocks and minerals which form the potential raw materials deposits or reservoir rocks for natural gas and crude oil in Poland. Using the rocks specimens and the polished sections from Polish rock formations, the students individually describe the specific rock formation and decide if it can be treated as deposit and can be useful for industry.

The class presents the problems connected with the geological setting of the potential raw materials deposits which are located in Poland. It consist of 5 subjects, the first two are on the presently exploited deposits of the metallic raw materials, next 2 are on the energetic raw materials and on the chemical ones. During the last class, the students work with the rocks that contain the chromium mineralization from the abandoned deposit.

During each meeting, after the short oral introduction and on the basis of the lecture “Mineral raw deposits of Poland”, the students individually work with the rocks specimens and/or with the polished sections. Using the didactic written materials, they learn how to identify the structures and the textures of the rocks from some polish deposits of the raw materials. For example, during the classes on the metallic raw materials, the students firstly work with the rock specimens and next with the polished sections and identify the main ore- and gangue minerals under the reflected light microscope. After this, on the basis of achieved data, completed by the geological information from the didactic materials, the students decide if the analyzed rock formation could be useful for the industry and which raw materials are the most interesting.

The rock formations containing the raw materials, that are the subjects of the class as well as the rock specimens, mostly come from the localizations visited by the students during the field courses (first cycle degree). The two first classes present the Zechstein copper rock formation from the Foresudetic Monocline, next four are on ore-bearing dolomites of the Olkusz area and on the Rotliegend sandstones of the Polish Lowlands and their reservoir properties. Finally, there are presented rocks specimens from the Zechstein and the Miocene salt formations as well as from the Miocene gypsum-origin limestones with the native sulphur mineralization.

After each of the presented subjects, the students write short (2-3 pages) report that summarizes achieved information and individual work.

After completing the class, the student obtains the knowledge on the presence of the chosen mineral raw materials in Poland area. The emphasis is given to the materials that are presently exploited. The student knows the localization of the geological units that host mineral deposits with regard to the regional geology of Poland, is familiar with the geological setting and the mineral composition of the selected deposits. The student is also able to identify and describe the rocks and minerals that form studied deposit, using the macroscopic rock samples and the polished sections. Moreover, he/she is able to identify, describe and analyze geological processes that resulted in the forming of the deposit. On the basic level, knows how to define the reservoir properties of the sedimentary rocks. Knows how to analyze geological data with the regard to the given balancing criteria and how to define the potential application of some raw materials for the Polish industry with the regard to the exploitation profits.

Grading (½) and written reports (½)

Each subject is summarized by the short (2-3 pages) written report on the specific deposit (½ of the total grade). The class is ended by final written assessment (½ of the total grade), the graduation limit is 51%. The presence during the class is required, 2 absences are allowed.

none