Accessibility of Selected Key Non-Metallic Mineral Deposits in the Environmental and Social Context in Poland

Abstract

The increase in demand for mineral resources, the depletion of the resources (deposits) and numerous environmental and social limitations concerning their utilization led to research on the assessment of environmental and the social availability of compact raw material deposits classified as key raw materials. The methodology of the research is based on the proposed environmental and social assessment procedure for the availability of deposits, in which, based on the constraints resulting from legal, environmental and planning conditions, four deposit availability classes have been determined: class I—very well accessible deposit, class II—well accessible deposit, class III—accessible deposit and class IV—inaccessible deposit. Ultimately, seven variables influencing the availability of the deposit were selected for the assessment, i.e., forms of nature protection, forests with protective functions, zones of indirect protection of groundwater and surface water intakes, main groundwater reservoirs, surface water reservoirs, rivers, streams and canals, buildings and infrastructure and road and railway. The research was carried out for 244 deposits located in Poland (Central Europe) with total resources of over 7.6 billion tons. The availability of deposits was analyzed for two variants. The first one included all the variables. The second variant, on the other hand, excluded railway infrastructure due to the fact that 90% of the compact raw materials transport is carried out by trucks. Finally, in variant I of the assessment, three classes of deposit availability were obtained: class IV inaccessible deposits (146 deposits), class III available deposits (93 deposits), and class II well-accessible deposits (5 deposits). In variant II four classes of deposit availability were obtained: class IV inaccessible deposits (145 deposits), class III available deposits (68 deposits), class II well-accessible deposits (28 deposits) and class I deposits very easily accessible (3 deposits).

Safeguarding of Key Minerals Deposits as a Basis of Sustainable Development of Polish Economy

“…On the one hand, the multiplicity of deposits is an advantage, but on the other hand it en-courages their reliable evaluation and assessment to select the most valuable deposits that require protection. Although the sufficiency of reserves in exploited deposits is estimated for about 50 years [165] it is with concern that we should look at the recently growing reluctance of local communities to exploitation of such deposits [166,167], often argued by the environmental assets of the region [168]. The lack of formal and legal solutions for counteracting such social conflicts may quickly result in serious limitations of the possibility to exploit many of these deposits.…”