Building ceramics raw materials

2022

Resources and output

The table given below shows reserves and the state of development and exploration of clay raw material for the building ceramics industry.

Table 1. Building ceramics raw material – million m³

The anticipated economic resources of the building ceramics raw materials amounted to 2,026.509 million m³ (about 4,053.018 million tonnes) as of the end of 2022. They decreased by 4.193 million m³ (about 8.386 million tonnes – that is by 0.2%) in comparison with the previous year.

There was 1 new deposit of the building ceramics raw materials documented in 2022: the Sągnity 1 deposit (0.227 million m³) located in Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship. The deposit was allocated from the Sągnity deposit due to planned exploitation only of this part of the deposit.

For 17 deposits there were new documentations with recalculated resources approved (supplements for documentations – 18 supplements, including 2 for the Sągnity deposit), from which:

• new documentations (supplements), updating the boundaries and resources, were elaborated for 12 deposits: Kolonia Spławy II (−0.021 million m³) and Stojeszyn (−0.012 million m³) in Lubelskie Voivodeship, Maciejowice (−0.134 million m³ – the partially exploited area was excluded from the deposit as the area is dedicated for other investments) and Paczków (−0.377 million m³ – a calculation error was corrected) in Opolskie Voivodeship, Chwałowice – Maj V (−0.001 million m³), Chwałowice-Pasztaleniec (0.000 million m³) and Podborze (−0.019 million m³) in Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Szkucin (2.494 million m³ – the deposit area was enlarged), Sągnity (−0.222 million m³ – resources were updated and the Sągnity 1 deposit was allocated), Czacz I (0.000 million m³), Czajcze (0.001 million m³). The resources balance resulted from the above mentioned changes is positive and amounts to 1.709 million m³;
• there were 6 deposits crossed out from ‘The balance…’ after elaboration of supplements of a settlement specification: Rudak I (−1.826 million m³ – exploitation of the Pliocene clays ended due to spatial development plan limitations and due to quality of the raw material not sufficient enough for building ceramics production) in Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship, Dębówka (−0.966 million m³ – actual and planned land development) and Bojanówka I (−0.041 million m³ – exploitable resources were depleted) in Lubelskie Voivodeship, Siedlisko (−1.233 million m³ – a part of the deposit planned for buildings, the deposit has not been exploited so far) in Lubuskie Voivodeship, Grabowiec (−0.025 million m³ – exploitable resources were depleted) in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship and Marcinowo (−0.029 million m³) in Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship. The total resources drop resulting from crossing out the above mentioned deposits is equal 4.120 million m³.

Out of the total 1,111 documented deposits of the building ceramics raw materials, exploited deposits (96) account for 8.6% (including: 5.7% deposits exploited continuously (64) and 2.9% deposits exploited temporarily – 32), non-exploited deposits (299) account for 26.9% (including: 20.2% deposits covered by a detailed exploration (225) and 6.7% deposits covered by a preliminary exploration – 74) and abandoned deposits (716) account for 64.4%.

Similarly, out of the total volume of the anticipated economic resources (2,026.51 million m³): the resources within exploited deposits (225.27 million m³) account for 11.1% (including: 10.0% deposits exploited continuously (202.07 million m³) and 1.1% deposits exploited temporarily – 23.2 million m³), the resources within non-exploited deposits (1,441.41 million m³) account for 71.1% (including: 11.2% in the deposits covered by a detailed exploration (227.87 million m³) and 59.9% in the deposits covered by a preliminary exploration – 1,213.54 million m³) and the resources within abandoned deposits (359.83 million m³) account for 17.8%.

The resources documented in A+B and C₁ categories (the detailed exploration) account for 34.5% of total anticipated economic resources. The remaining part of resources is documented in C₂ or D categories (the preliminary exploration). More than a half of resources covered by the preliminary exploration (60%) are resources documented within the overburden of non-exploited brown coal deposit Legnica-pole Wschodnie (727.65 million m³ of clays documented in C₂ category).

The economic resources are documented for 58 deposits and amount to 133.892 million m³ in total (about 267.784 million tonnes) that accounts for 56.0% of the anticipated economic resources of these deposits. The economic resources in 2022 decreased by 6.839 million m³ (4.9%) in comparison with the previous year, including:

• resources growth by 0.579 million m³, including: Przysieka Stara (0.549 million m³ – new deposit development plan) in Wielkopolskie Voivodeship, Paczków (0.021 million m³) in Opolskie Voivodeship, remaining 0.008 million m³);
• resources drops due to exploitation and losses – 1.912 million m³ in total (regarding only 58 deposits with determined economic resources);
• other drops equal 5.506 million m³, including the following deposits: Złocieniec (−0.306 million m³) in Zachodniopomorskie Voivodeship – supplement No. 3 to the deposit development plan); Miękinia (−1.114 million m³) in Dolnośląskie Voivodeship, Złote Góry II (−0.191 million m³) in Łódzkie Voivodeship, Plecewice I (−2.757 million m³) in Mazowieckie Voivodeship – due to the concession extinction and removal of the mining areas; Rudak I (−0.920 million m³) in Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship – the deposit crossed out from the registry; Zawady (−0.047 million m³) in Mazowieckie Voivodeship, Radymno – pole zachodnie 1 (−0.122 million m³) in Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Blanowice C (−0.049 million m³) and Ogrodzieniec (−0.001 million m³) in Śląskie Voivodeship – data verification.

In 2022, the output of the building ceramics clays was equal 1.803 million m³ (about 3.606 million tonnes) and increased in comparison with 2021 by 0.089 million m³ (5.2%). The exploitation was being carried out from 66 deposits (including 2 abandoned deposits). The biggest output was recorded for the Oleśnica 1 deposit in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship – 0.219 million m³. Considering particular Voivodeships, the output was as follows (in a descending sequence): in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship 0.427 million m³ (23.7% of the domestic output); in Dolnośląskie Voivodeship 0.289 million m³ (16.0%); in Śląskie Voivodeship 0.223 million m³ (12.4%); in Podkarpackie Voivodeship 0.195 million m³ (10.8%); in Małopolskie Voivodeship 0.130 million m³ (7.2%), in Opolskie Voivodeship 0.105 million m³ (5.8%); in Pomorskie Voivodeship 0.104 million m³ (5.8%); in Mazowieckie Voivodeship 0.100 million m³ (5.6%); in Wielkopolskie Voivodeship 0.074 million m³ (4.1%); in Lubuskie Voivodeship 0.059 million m³ (3.3%); in Lubelskie Voivodeship 0.049 million m³ (2.7%); in Podlaskie Voivodeship 0.024 million m³ (1.3%); in Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship 0.011 million m³ (0.6%); in Łódzkie Voivodeship 0.011 million m³ (0.6%); in Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship 0.001 million m³ (0.1%); in Zachodniopomorskie Voivodeship the exploitation was not carried out.

The figure given below shows changes in the domestic resources and production of the clay raw material for the building ceramics industry in Poland in the years 1989-2022.

 

Table 2. List of building ceramics raw materials deposits – thousand m³

In The balance of prospective mineral resources of Poland, the prognostic resources (category D₁) of the building ceramics raw materials were assessed to be equal 1,328 billion m³ within 65 areas, moreover there were 267 prospective areas given (category D₂ without the resources assessment)*. The majority of the prognostic resources is formed by the Neogene clays of the Poznań series (45.7% of the prognostic resources, from which 20% are the clays accompanying the brown coal deposits), the Miocene marine clays (33.3%), the stagnant clays (18.3%) and other (2.7%). The geographical distribution of the resources is uneven: in Dolnośląskie Voivodeship there is 43.1% of the resources located, in Podkarpackie Voivodeship 28.2%, in Podlaskie Voivodeship 9.2%, in Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship 5.1%, in Śląskie, Pomorskie, Świętokrzyskie and Małopolskie Voivodeships – from 2% to 3%, and in the remaining Voivodeships – 6.2% in total. Except for the determined areas, there are also other possibilities for the valuable clayey raw materials discovery.

Prepared by: Wojciech Szczygielski

* Szczygielski W., Walentek I., 2020 – ‘Surowce ceramiki budowlanej (building ceramics raw materials), surowce do produkcji kruszyw ceramicznych i cementu (mineral raw materials for production of clay aggregates and cement clinker)’. In: ‘Bilans perspektywicznych zasobów kopalin Polski wg stanu na 31.12.2018 r.’ (eds. Szamałek K., Szuflicki M., Mizerski W.): 239-257. PIG-PIB, Warszawa [in Polish].

2021

Resources and output

The table given below shows reserves and the state of development and exploration of clay raw material for the building ceramics industry.

Table 1. Building ceramics raw material – million m³

The anticipated economic resources of the building ceramics raw materials amounted to 2,030.702 million m³ (about 4,061.404 million tonnes) as of the end of 2021. They decreased by 2.878 million m³ (about 5.756 million tonnes – that is by 0.1%) in comparison with the previous year.

There was 1 new deposit of the building ceramics raw materials documented in 2021: the Gorzyce – Cetnarski IV deposit (0.009 million m³) located in Podkarpackie Voivodeship.

For 18 deposits there were new documentations with recalculated resources approved (supplements for documentations), from which: in 12 cases there were decisions of crossing out the deposits from ‘The balance…’ made. The new documentations (supplements), updating the boundaries and resources, were prepared for the following deposits: Małopole II K (−0.075 million m³) in Mazowieckie Voivodeship, Górki – Głowacki II (−0.001 million m³) in Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Sucumin (+0.008 million m³) and Niezabyszewo (−0.019 million m³) in Pomorskie Voivodeship, Ogrodzieniec (−0.005 million m³) in Śląskie Voivodeship, Witaszyce (−0.243 million m³) in Wielkopolskie Voivodeship. The total resources drop resulting from the above mentioned documentations (supplements) was equal 0.335 million m³. There were following deposits crossed out from ‘The balance…’: Lublin-Przejrzysta (0.101 million m³) in Lubelskie Voivodeship, Nowy Sącz – Załubińcze I (0.109 million m³) in Małopolskie Voviodeship, Słupno-Górki (0.003 million m³) and Guzowatka 4 (0.163 million m³) in Mazowieckie Voivodeship, Niwnica (0.129 million m³) in Opolskie Voivodeship, Chwałowice – Bałdos I (0.000 million m³), Pniów-Bera VIII (0.000 million m³), Gorzyce – Cetnarski III (0.002 million m³) in Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Gnaszyn Górny (0.049 million m³) and Zofia (0.014 million m³) in Śląskie Voivodeship, Wyszyna Machorowska III (0.022 million m³) in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Oracze (0.030 million m³) in Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship. The resources of the Rozpędziny deposit in Pomorskie Voivodeship (0.064 million m³; that is 0.109 million tonnes of weaken sands) were reclassified to the group of ‘sand and gravel’. The total resources drop resulting from crossing out the above mentioned deposits is equal 0.686 million m³.

Out of the total 1,123 documented deposits of the building ceramics raw materials, exploited deposits (114) account for 10.2% (including: 6.3% deposits exploited continuously (71) and 3.8% deposits exploited temporarily – 43), non-exploited deposits (301) account for 26.8% (including: 20.2% deposits covered by a detailed exploration (227) and 6.6% deposits covered by a preliminary exploration – 74) and abandoned deposits (708) account for 63.0%.

Similarly, out of the total volume of the anticipated economic resources (2,030.70 million m³): the resources within exploited deposits (245.27 million m³) account for 12.1% (including: 10.2% deposits exploited continuously (207.57 million m³) and 1.9% deposits exploited temporarily – 37.70 million m³), the resources within non-exploited deposits (1,443.77 million m³) account for 71.1% (including: 11.3% in the deposits covered by a detailed exploration (230.23 million m³) and 59.8% in the deposits covered by a preliminary exploration – 1,213.54 million m³) and the resources within abandoned deposits (341.66 million m³) account for 16.8%.

The resources documented in A+B and C₁ categories (the detailed exploration) account for 34.5% of total anticipated economic resources. The remaining part of resources is documented in C₂ or D categories (the preliminary exploration). More than a half of resources covered by the preliminary exploration (60%) are resources documented within the overburden of non-exploited brown coal deposit Legnica-pole Wschodnie (727.65 million m³ of clays documented in C₂ category).

The economic resources are documented for 72 deposits and amount to 140.731 million m³ in total (about 281.462 million tonnes) that accounts for 57.0% of the anticipated economic resources of these deposits. The economic resources in 2021 decreased by 11.065 million m³ (7.3%) in comparison with the previous year. The resources increases amounted to 0.021 million m³. The resources drops were equal 11.086 million m³, including: the corrections of economic resources for the following deposits: Kunice I – wschód (−0.884 million m³ of weaken sands) in Dolnośląskie Voivodeship and Chełsty (−5.627 million m³ – the data updating) in Łódzkie Voivodeship; due to the concession extinction and removal of the mining areas, there were economic resources crossed out for the following deposits: Chwalimierz II (−1.620 million m³) and Leszczyna Kłodzka (−0.231 million m³) in Dolnośląskie Voivodeship, Guzowatka 4 (−0.155 million m³) in Mazowieckie Voivodeship, Branice (−0.150 million m³) in Opolskie Voivodeship, Podborze (−0.196 million m³) in Podkarpackie Voivodeship and Sągnity (−0.275 million m³) in Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship; the remaining resources drops (−1.948 million m³).

In 2021, the output of the building ceramics clays was equal 1.714 million m³ (about 3.428 million tonnes) and increased in comparison with 2020 by 0.149 million m³ (9.5%). The exploitation was being carried out from 72 deposits (including the Wyszyna Machorowska III deposit from which the exploitation ended in 2021 and the deposit was crossed out from ‘The balance…’). Considering particular Voivodeships, the output was as follows (in a descending sequence): in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship 0.280 million m³ (16.4% of the domestic output); in Podkarpackie Voivodeship 0.218 million m³ (12.7%); in Dolnośląskie Voivodeship 0.192 million m³ (11.2%); in Śląskie Voivodeship 0.152 million m³ (8.9%); in Małopolskie Voivodeship 0.149 million m³ (8.7%), in Pomorskie Voivodeship 0.142 million m³ (8.3%); in Opolskie Voivodeship 0.137 million m³ (8.0%); in Mazowieckie Voivodeship 0.117 million m³ (6.8%); in Lubuskie Voivodeship 0.096 million m³ (5.6%); in Wielkopolskie Voivodeship 0.078 million m³ (4.6%); in Lubelskie Voivodeship 0.062 million m³ (3.6%); in Łódzkie Voivodeship 0.058 million m³ (3.4%); in Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship 0.018 million m³ (1.0%); in Podlaskie Voivodeship 0.014 million m³ (0.8%); in Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship 0.001 million m³ (0.1%); in Zachodniopomorskie Voivodeship 0.000 million m³ (0.0%).

The figure given below shows changes in the domestic resources and production of the clay raw material for the building ceramics industry in Poland in the years 1989-2021.

 

Table 2. List of building ceramics raw materials deposits – thousand m³

In The balance of prospective mineral resources of Poland, the prognostic resources (category D₁) of the building ceramics raw materials were assessed to be equal 1,328 billion m³ within 65 areas, moreover there were 267 prospective areas given (category D₂ without the resources assessment)*. The majority of the prognostic resources is formed by the Neogene clays of the Poznań series (45.7% of the prognostic resources, from which 20% are the clays accompanying the brown coal deposits), the Miocene marine clays (33.3%), the stagnant clays (18.3%) and other (2.7%). The geographical distribution of the resources is uneven: in Dolnośląskie Voivodeship there is 43.1% of the resources located, in Podkarpackie Voivodeship 28.2%, in Podlaskie Voivodeship 9.2%, in Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship 5.1%, in Śląskie, Pomorskie, Świętokrzyskie and Małopolskie Voivodeships – from 2% to 3%, and in the remaining Voivodeships – 6.2% in total. Except for the determined areas, there are also other possibilities for the valuable clayey raw materials discovery.

Prepared by: Wojciech Szczygielski

* Szczygielski W., Walentek I., 2020 – ‘Surowce ceramiki budowlanej (building ceramics raw materials), surowce do produkcji kruszyw ceramicznych i cementu (mineral raw materials for production of clay aggregates and cement clinker)’. In: ‘Bilans perspektywicznych zasobów kopalin Polski wg stanu na 31.12.2018 r.’ (eds. Szamałek K., Szuflicki M., Mizerski W.): 239-257. PIG-PIB, Warszawa [in Polish].

2020

Resources and output

The table given below shows reserves and the state of development and exploration of clay raw material for the building ceramics industry.

Table 1. Building ceramics raw material – million m³

The anticipated economic resources of the building ceramics raw materials amounted to 2,033.580 million m³ (about 4,067.158 million tonnes) as of the end of 2020. They decreased by 5.055 million m³ (about 10.110 million tonnes – that is by 0.3%) in comparison with the previous year.

There were 3 new deposits of the building ceramics raw materials documented in 2020: Lublin-Przejrzysta (0.101 million m³) in Lubelskie Voivodeship, Plecewice III (0.133 million m³ of stagnant lake clays, allocated from Plecewice II deposit) in Mazowieckie Voivodeship, Zarzecze-Wojciechowski (0.014 million m³) in Podkarpackie Voivodeship. The documentation of Lublin-Przejrzysta deposit was approved in 2000 (the information and the documentation were submitted to the Polish Geological Institute-National Research Institute in 2021; the exploitation was abandoned probably in 2002), whereas two other documentations were approved in 2020.

For 13 deposits there were new documentations with recalculated resources approved, from which in 4 cases there were decisions of crossing out the deposits from ‘The balance…’ made. The new documentations, updating the boarders and resources, were elaborated for the following deposits: Bolków I (0.000 million m³; due to the concession extinction) in Dolnośląskie Voivodeship, Gozdnica (deposit boarders extension – the anticipated sub-economic resources documented equal 0.249 million m³) in Lubuskie Voivodeship, Budy Mszczonowskie III (−0.024 million m³), Marki-Pole Południowe (−0.011 million m³; residential housing planned in the deposit area) and Konstantynów (−0.074 million m³; the updating after the allocation of Barcik 10 deposit area in 2014) in Mazowieckie Voivodeship, Paczków (+2.447 million m³; deposit area enlarged to the depth of 30 meters and by the areas adjacent from south-east) in Opolskie Voivodeship, Rozpędziny (−0.615 million m³; within the deposit boarders the sand resources remained, whereas the Neogene clays were crossed out from ‘The balance…’) in Pomorskie Voivodeship, Witaszyce (−0.687 million m³; the anticipated sub-economic resources where allocated from the deposit) in Wielkopolskie Voivodeship, Gnaszyn Północ (resources covered by a detailed exploration – reclassified from C₂ to C₁ category) in Śląskie Voivodeship.

There were following deposits crossed out from ‘The balance…’: Bojanówka Zachód (−0.030 million m³) in Lubelskie Voivodeship, Gorzów Wielkopolski (−0.472 million m³) in Lubuskie Voivodeship, Konstancja-Mieszczańska (−2.521 million m³) in Małopolskie Voivodeship, Pniów-Bałdos I (0.000 million m³) in Podkarpackie Voivodeship and Bielszowice II (−0.218 million m³) in Śląskie Voivodeship. The total resources drop amounted to 4.241 million m³.

Out of 1,127 documented deposits of the building ceramics raw materials, exploited deposits (130) account for 11.5% (including: 7.2% deposits exploited continuously (81) and 4.3% deposits exploited temporarily – 81), non-exploited deposits (301) account for 26.7% (including: 20.1% deposits covered by a detailed exploration (227) and 6.6% deposits covered by a preliminary exploration – 74) and abandoned deposits (696) account for 61.8%.

Similarly, out of the total amount of the anticipated economic resources (2,033.58 million m³): the resources within exploited deposits (255.31 million m³) account for 12.6% (including: 10.4% deposits exploited continuously (212.06 million m³) and 2.1% deposits exploited temporarily – 43.25 million m³), the resources within non-exploited deposits (1,443.81 million m³) account for 71.0% (including: 11.3% in the deposits covered by a detailed exploration (230.27 million m³) and 59.7% in the deposits covered by a preliminary exploration – 1,213.54 million m³) and the resources within abandoned deposits (334.47 million m³) account for 16.4%.

Resources documented in A+B and C₁ categories (the detailed exploration) account for 34.5% of total anticipated economic resources. The remaining part of resources is documented in C₂ or D categories (the preliminary exploration). More than a half of resources covered by the preliminary exploration (60%) are resources documented within the overburden of non-exploited brown coal deposit Legnica-pole Wschodnie (727.65 million m³ of clays documented in C₂ category).

The economic resources were documented for 72 deposits and amount to 151.796 million m³ (about 303.592 million tonnes) that accounts for 59.7% of the anticipated economic resources of these deposits. The economic resources in 2020 decreased by 2.430 million m³ (1.6%) in comparison with the previous year. The was mainly the result of the exploitation. Moreover, there were economic resources updated for: Rudak 1 deposit in Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship (−0.854 million m³), Gozdnica deposit in Lubuskie Voivodeship (+0.250 million m³), Kolbuszowa-Kupno in Podkarpackie Voivodeship (+0.872 million m³); there were the economic resources crossed out from ‘The balance…’ from: Krzyż deposit in Małopolskie Voivodeship (−0.698 million m³) and Bojanice deposit in Wielkopolskie Voivodeship (−0.332 million m³) as the result of the mining areas extinction (the exploitation concessions extinction).

In 2020, the output of the building ceramics clays was equal 1.565 million m³ (about 3.130 million tonnes) and decreased in comparison with 2019 by 0.233 million m³ (13.0%). The exploitation was being carried out from 81 deposits.

Considering particular Voivodeships, the output was as follows (in a descending sequence): in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship 0.334 million m³ (21.4% of the domestic output); in Małopolskie Voivodeship 0.199 million m³ (12.7%); in Śląskie Voivodeship 0.187 million m³ (11.9%); in Dolnośląskie Voivodeship 0.174 million m³ (11.1%); in Podkarpackie Voivodeship 0.114 million m³ (7.3%), in Pomorskie Voivodeship 0.088 million m³ (5.6%); in Opolskie Voivodeship 0.086 million m³ (5.5%); in Mazowieckie Voivodeship 0.080 million m³ (5.1%); in Wielkopolskie Voivodeship 0.078 million m³ (5.0%); in Lubelskie Voivodeship 0.062 million m³ (4.0%); in Zachodniopomorskie Voivodeship 0.044 million m³ (2.8%); in Lubuskie Voivodeship 0.039 million m³ (2.5%); in Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship 0.035 million m³ (2.2%); in Łódzkie Voivodeship 0.025 million m³ (1.6%); in Podlaskie Voivodeship 0.010 million m³ (0.7%); in Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship 0.010 million m³ (0.6%).

The figure given below shows changes in the domestic resources and production of the clay raw material for the building ceramics industry in Poland in the years 1989-2020.

 

Table 2. List of building ceramics raw materials deposits – thousand m³

In The balance of prospective mineral resources of Poland, the prognostic resources (category D₁) of the building ceramics raw materials were assessed to be equal 1,328 billion m³ within 65 areas, moreover there were 267 prospective areas described (category D₂ without the resources assessment)*. The majority of the prognostic resources is formed by the Neogene clays of the Poznań series (45.7% of the prognostic resources, from which 20% are the clays accompanying the brown coal deposits), the Miocene marine clays (33.3%), the stagnant clays (18.3%) and other (2.7%). The geographical distribution of the resources is uneven: in Dolnośląskie Voivodeship there is 43.1% of the resources located, in Podkarpackie Voivodeship 28.2%, in Podlaskie Voivodeship 9.2%, in Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship 5.1%, in Śląskie, Pomorskie, Świętokrzyskie and Małopolskie Voivodeships – from 2% to 3%, and in the remaining Voivodeships – 6.2% in total. Except for the determined areas, there are also other possibilities for the valuable clayey raw materials discovery.

Prepared by: Wojciech Szczygielski

* Szczygielski W., Walentek I., 2020 – ‘Surowce ceramiki budowlanej (building ceramics raw materials), surowce do produkcji kruszyw ceramicznych i cementu (mineral raw materials for production of clay aggregates and cement clinker)’. In: ‘Bilans perspektywicznych zasobów kopalin Polski wg stanu na 31.12.2018 r.’ (eds. Szamałek K., Szuflicki M., Mizerski W.): 239-257. PIG-PIB, Warszawa [in Polish].

2019

Resources and output

The table given below shows reserves and the state of development and exploration of clay raw material for the building ceramics industry.

Table 1. Building ceramics raw material – million m³

The anticipated economic resources of the building ceramics raw materials amounted to 2,038.635 million m³ (about 4,077.270 million tonnes) as of the end of 2019. They decreased by 5.617 million m³ (about 11.234 million tonnes – that is by 0.3%) in comparison with the previous year.

There were not any new deposits of the building ceramics raw materials documented in 2019, however there were 22 new documentations with recalculated resources approved, including: 14 supplements updating the deposits boarders and resources, and 8 supplements with resources settlements.

The new documentations with updated boarders and resources, were elaborated for the following deposits: Ruszowice II (−0.006 million m³) in Dolnośląskie Voivodeship, Słodków – Stróża (0.020 million m³), Słodków IV (0.065 million m³) and Suchynia II (0) in Lubelskie Voviodeship, Łukowa I (−0.015 million m³) in Małopolskie Voivodeship, Czerwone Osiedle (1.395 million m³) and Konradów Głuchołaski (−0.107 million m³) in Opolskie Voviodeship, Zalesie Gorzyckie – Dul 8 (0), Zalesie Gorzyckie – Dul VII (0), Zalesie Gorzyckie – Dul III (0) in Podkarpackie Vovivodeship, Sierakowice (−1.545 million m³) in Śląskie Voivodeship, Odonów (−1.118 million m³) in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship and Bukowo (Wschód) (−0.010 million m³) and Złocieniec (−0.063 million m³) in Zachodniopomorskie Voivodeship.

The supplements with the resources settlement, where the basis for crossing out 9 deposits from ‘The balance…’: Dąbrowa II (−0.042 million m³) in Łódzkie Voivodeship, Bonarka-Łagiewniki (−2.045 million m³) and Krościenko (−0.092 million m³) in Małopolskie Voivodeship, Guzowatka III/1 (−0.030 million m³), Babiec Piaseczny II (−0.000 million m³) and Mokre – dz. Nr 373/2 (−0.041 million m³) in Mazowieckie Voivodeship, Gorzyce – Cetnarski II (−0.004 million m³) in Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Świba (−0.020 million m³) and Słupia (−0.033 million m³) in Wielkopolskie Voviodeship. The total resources drop amounted to 2,265 million m³. The significant resources volume of Bonarka-Łagiewniki were crossed out from ‘The balance…’ due to ‘the raw material quality – the high sulfate salts content, the deteriorating quality of products as the result of the mine location in the center of Cracow town’. Babiec Piaseczny II deposit was crossed out from ‘The balance…’ due to the resources depletion. In other cases, there were the geological reasons: the bad raw material quality and difficult geological-mining conditions, and economic reasons: the resignation of the exploitation process (probably due to the unprofitable of the ceramic articles production) and the plans to the land development for other purposes.

Out of 1,133 documented deposits of the building ceramics raw materials, exploited deposits account for 12.7% (including: 7.5% deposits exploited continuously and 5.2% deposits exploited temporarily), non-exploited deposits account for 26.7% (including: 20.1% deposits covered by a detailed exploration and 6.6% deposits covered by a preliminary exploration) and abandoned deposits account for 60.6%.The number of abandoned deposits – reported in the domestic records – has been increasing systematically for many years.

Out of the total amount of the anticipated economic resources, the resources within exploited deposits account for 12.4% (including: 10.6% deposits exploited continuously and 1.6% deposits exploited temporarily), the resources within non-exploited deposits account for 71.2% (including: 11.4% in the deposits covered by a detailed exploration and 59.8% in the deposits covered by a preliminary exploration) and the resources within abandoned deposits account for 16.4%.

Resources documented in A+B and C₁ categories (the detailed exploration) account for 34.5% of total anticipated economic resources. The remaining part of resources is documented in C₂ or D categories (the preliminary exploration). More than a half of resources covered by the preliminary exploration (59.7%) are resources documented within the overburden of non-exploited brown coal deposit Legnica-pole Wschodnie (727.65 million m³ of clays documented in C₂ category).

The economic resources were documented for 74 deposits and amounted to 154.226 million m³ (about 308.452 million tonnes) that accounts for 60.2% of the anticipated economic resources of these deposits. The economic resources in 2019 increased by 17.946 million m³ (13.2%) in comparison with the previous year. There were the economic resources updated for Gozdnica deposit (the resources drop was recorded in 2018), Oleśnica 1 deposit (+21.543 million m³), Wola Rzędzińska (−6.047 million m³ were reclassified to the sub-economic resources). There were the economic resources established for Kębłowo Nowowiejskie II deposit (+4.744 million m³). The resources of Hadykówka deposit were crossed out from ‘The balance…’ due to the abolition of the mining area (−1.508 million m³).

In 2019, the output of the building ceramics clays was equal 1.798 million m³ (about 3.596 million tonnes) and decreased in comparison with 2018 by 0.244 million m³ (12.0%). The exploitation was being carried out from 85 deposits.

Considering particular Voivodeships, the output was as follows (in a descending sequence): in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship 0.357 million m³ (19.9% of the domestic output); in Śląskie Voivodeship 0.241 million m³ (13.4%); in Podkarpackie Voivodeship 0.211 million m³ (11.7%); in Małopolskie Voivodeship 0.157 million m³ (8.7%); in Dolnośląskie Voivodeship 0.143 million m³ (7.9%), in Mazowieckie Voivodeship 0.130 million m³ (7.2%); in Opolskie Voivodeship 0.117 million m³ (6.5%); in Pomorskie Voivodeship 0.104 million m³ (5.8%); in Wielkopolskie Voivodeship 0.075 million m³ (4.2%); in Lubuskie Voivodeship 0.064 million m³ (3.6%); in Zachodniopomorskie Voivodeship 0.064 million m³ (3.6%); in Lubelskie Voivodeship 0.060 million m³ (3.3%); in Łódzkie Voivodeship 0.032 million m³ (1.8%); in Podlaskie Voivodeship 0.031 million m³ (1.7%); in Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship 0.008 million m³ (0.4%); in Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship 0.004 million m³ (0.2%).

The figure given below shows changes in the domestic resources and production of the clay raw material for the building ceramics industry in Poland in the years 1989-2019.

 

Table 2. List of building ceramics raw materials deposits – thousand m³

In The balance of prospective mineral resources of Poland, the prognostic resources (category D1) of the building ceramics raw materials were assessed to be equal 1,328 billion m³ within 65 areas, moreover there were 267 prospective areas described (category D2 without the resources assessment)*. The majority of the prognostic resources is formed by the Neogene clays of the Poznań series (45.7% of the prognostic resources, from which 20% are the clays accompanying the brown coal deposits), the Miocene marine clays (33.3%), the stagnant clays (18.3%) and other (2.7%). The geographical distribution of the resources is uneven: in Dolnośląskie Voivodeship there is 43.1% of the resources located, in Podkarpackie Voivodeship 28.2%, in Podlaskie Voivodeship 9.2%, in Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship 5.1%, in Śląskie, Pomorskie, Świętokrzyskie and Małopolskie Voivodeships – from 2% to 3%, and in the remaining Voivodeships – 6.2% in total. Except for the determined areas, there are also other possibilities for the valuable clayey raw materials discovery.

Prepared by: Wojciech Szczygielski

* Szczygielski W., Walentek I., 2020 – ‘Surowce ceramiki budowlanej (building ceramics raw materials), surowce do produkcji kruszyw ceramicznych i cementu (mineral raw materials for production of clay aggregates and cement clinker)’. In: ‘Bilans perspektywicznych zasobów kopalin Polski wg stanu na 31.12.2018 r.’ (eds. Szamałek K., Szuflicki M., Mizerski W.): 239-257. PIG-PIB, Warszawa.

2018

The basic raw materials used for a building ceramics production are various clayey rocks which mixed with water form a plastic mass easy to form and sands so-called ‘weaken sands’ which are added to a clayey raw material to improve the properties of the ceramic mass. The formed and burnt products must be of the appropriate physical and technical features defined by the official standards. Clayey and non-clayey (weaken) raw materials often occur together – in one deposit, in the form of beds or interbeddings, or as the independent accumulations.

The main building ceramic products are: ceramic bricks and breezeblocks, slates, clinker bricks, fittings, ceramic pavements. The raw material from some deposits is being used also for the production of enamel ceramic tiles, stoneware products, ceramic accessories and others.

The raw materials for the building ceramics production owe their yielding features and their ability to be formed to the clayey minerals content. Their content in different rocks varies. In loesses the clayey minerals content is low (couple of %), but in clays it can be up to 100%. Usually in the typical raw materials the content is between 40% and 60%. Other components are mainly the quartzitic sand and dust, feldspars, calcite and dolomite in calcareous raw materials, iron minerals, mica minerals and organic matter. Clayey rocks built of only one mineral occur very seldom, they mostly have several clayey minerals in their composition: kaolin, illite, montmorillonite and chlorites, occurring together in changeable proportions.

Building ceramics raw materials occur commonly in the whole country. They vary in terms of their origin and age. Nowadays, the most important raw materials are these of the Quaternary, Neogene, Jurassic and Triassic age. The raw materials of the Quaternary age include mainly stagnant lake sediments such as muds and clays occurring mainly in northern and central Poland. There are also loesses, glacial loams, alluvial loams and loams of weathering covers nad sands used. Among older minerals the most important are Neogene clays of the so-called Poznań Series from south-western and central Poland and those of the Krakowiec clays from the area of the Carpathian Foredeep in south-eastern Poland. The Jurassic and Triassic deposits are situated at the margin of the Holy Cross Mts., in the Czestochowa region and in the Opole region. Building ceramics raw materials deposits in Poland are presented on the map.

According to the Regulation of the Minister of the Environment of the 1^st of July 2015 regarding the geological documentation of a mineral raw material deposit, excluding a hydrocarbons field (number of Polish act: Dz. U. 2015, poz. 987) the limit values of the parameters that define the building ceramics raw materials deposit and its borders (Appendix 8 – table 42) are: – the maximum documentation depth – to the depth of a possible exploitation; – the minimum thickness of the deposit – 2 m; – the maximum overburden/thickness ratio – 0.5; the maximum content of grains bigger than 2 mm – 1%; – the maximum content of a ceramic marl in grains diameter bigger than 0.5 mm – 0.4%; – the shrinkage in drying minimum 6%.

The table given below shows reserves and the state of development and exploration of clay raw material for the building ceramics industry.

Table 1. Building ceramics raw material – million m³

Anticipated economic resources of building ceramics raw materials amounted to 2,044.252 million m³ (about 4,088.504 million tonnes) as of the end of 2018. They increased by 13.372 million m³ (about 26.744 million tonnes – 0.7%) in comparison with the previous year.

There were 3 newly documented deposits included in ‘The balance…’: Sośnica 1 (0.307 million m³) located in Dolnośląskie Voivodeship – the deposit was allocated from Sośnica deposit, Rojów II (0.033 million m³) located in Wielkopolskie Voivodeship and Gnaszyn – Północ located in Śląskie Voivodeship (4.462 million m³).

In 2018 there were 27 new documentations with recalculated resources approved. Most of them were elaborated in the result of the exploitation end or the expiry date of the concession, in order to the resources settlement (21 documentations). Other documentations are related to: the enlargement of a deposit area (3), the enlargement of a deposit area and a change of the raw material usage (1), the updating of resources in the result of a deposit division (1), the updating of resources according to new balancing criteria (1).

The significant resources growths were recorded in the deposits for which the border have been enlarged: Kolbuszowa-Kupno (12.286 million m³) located in Podkarpackie Voivodeship and Sierakowice (1.770 million m³) located in Śląskie Voivodeship. The important increases were also the result of the resources updating of Lajsy deposit (0.228 million m³) located in Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship, Pieńkowo II deposit (0.020 million m³) located in Zachodniopomorskie Voivodeship and Bojanice deposit (0.011 million m³) located in Wielkopolskie Voivodeship.

The biggest resources drops occurred in the following deposits: Buśno (0.976 million m³) – the raw material was reclassified into the chapter Clay raw materials for cement production, Gozdnica (0.819 million m³) – in the result of the resources updating according to the current parameters that define the deposit and its borders, Sośnica (0.523 million m³) after the allocation of Sośnica 1 deposit, Lipie Śląskie – Lisowice (0.109 million m³) and Głogówek (0.025 million m³).

There were 14 deposits crossed out from ‘The balance…’: Wola Bachorska I (0.047 million m³) located in Łódzkie Voivodeship; Gaboń-Grabie (0.085 million m³), Hebdów (0.508 million m³), Stróże (0.030 million m³) located in Małopolskie Voivodeship; Drwały (0.004 million m³), Guzowatka III (0.077 million m³), Kobyłka Kolonia Chór 5 (0.033 million m³), Małopole III (0.050 million m³), Mokre IV (0.125 million m³), Mokre – Truszkowski, Kryski (0.106 million m³) located in Mazowieckie Voivodeship; Wrzawy – Laskowski I (0 million m³) located in Podkarpackie Voivodeship; Wyszyna Fałkowska I (0.163 million m³), Wyszyna Fałkowska II (0.000 million m³ – in the deposit there were only anticipated sub-economic resources documented and exploited) located in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship; Guzy III (0.000 million m³) located in Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship. The total resources drop resulted from crossing out the above mentioned deposits was equal 1.228 million m³.

The resources of Buśno deposit (0.976 million m³ – the building ceramics raw material) were reclassified into the chapter Clay raw materials for cement production due to the change of the raw material usage. From the loessal loams of this deposit the ceramic brick was being produced from ‘60s of the 20th century till 2012. Then, this type of production was abandoned and the raw material started to being used for the production of the cement clinker in the Chełm cement plant. The reclassification – the change of the raw material type – was based on the new documentation with recalculated resources elaborated for loessal loams deposit Buśno, intended for the cement production. The documentation was approved in 2018 and resulted in the resources updating and the extension of the previous deposits borders.

Out of 1,148 documented deposits of building ceramics raw materials, exploited deposits account for 13.4% (including: 8.8% deposits exploited continuously and 4.6% deposits exploited temporarily), non-exploited deposits account for 26.7% (including: 20.2% deposits covered by a detailed exploration and 6.4% deposits covered by a preliminary exploration) and abandoned deposits account for 59.9%.The number of abandoned deposits – reported in the domestic records – has been increasing systematically for many years.

Out of the total amount of the anticipated economic resources, the resources within exploited deposits account for 12.4% (including: 10.8% deposits exploited continuously and 1.6% deposits exploited temporarily), the resources within non-exploited deposits account for 71.0% (including: 11.4% in the deposits covered by a detailed exploration and 59.6% in the deposits covered by a preliminary exploration) and the resources within abandoned deposits account for 16.6%.

Resources documented in A+B and C₁ categories (the detailed exploration) account for 34.7% of total anticipated economic resources. The remaining part of resources is documented in C₂ or D categories (the preliminary exploration). More than a half of resources covered by the preliminary exploration (54.5%) are resources documented within the overburden of non-exploited brown coal deposit Legnica-pole Wschodnie (727.65 million m³ of clays documented in C₂ category).

Economic resources were documented for 74 deposits and amounted to 136.280 million m³ (about 272.560 million tonnes) that accounts for 52.5% of anticipated economic resources of these deposits. The economic resources decreased by 4.533 million m³ (3.2%) in comparison with the previous year mainly as a result of the crossing out the economic resources from ‘The balance…’ for these deposits for which the exploitation concessions extinct.

In 2018, the output of building ceramics clays was equal 2.042 million m³ (about 4.084 million tonnes) and increased in comparison with 2017 by 0.498 million m³ (32.3%). It was the highest output level in the last few years: in the 2012-2017 period, the exploitation remained in the range between 1.518-1.950 million m³, 1.915 million m³ at the average.

In terms of a genetic origin, the output is as follows: the Neogene clays of the so-called Poznań Series 0.668 million m³ (accounting for 32.7% of the total output), the Miocene clays of the Carpathian Foredeep 0.584 million m³ (28.6%), the Quaternary stagnant lake clays 0.329 million m³ (16.1%), the Triassic clays 0.194 million m³ (9.5%), the Jurassic clays 0.193 million m³ (9.5%), other clays in total 0.073 million m³ (3.6%).

Considering particular Voivodeships, the output was as follows (in a descending sequence): in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship 0.372 million m³ (18.2% of the domestic output), in Dolnośląskie Voivodeship 0.276 million m³ (13.5%), in Pomorskie Voivodeship 0.229 million m³ (11.2%); in Śląskie Voivodeship 0.209 million m³ (10.2%); in Małopolskie Voivodeship 0.188 million m³ (9.2%); in Opolskie Voivodeship 0.160 million m³ (7.9%); in Podkarpackie Voivodeship 0.158 million m³ (7.7%); in Mazowieckie Voivodeship 0.131 million m³ (6.4%); in Wielkopolskie Voivodeship 0.102 million m³ (5.0%); in Lubelskie Voivodeship 0.062 million m³ (3.0%); in Lubuskie Voivodeship 0.043 million m³ (2.1%); in Łódzkie Voivodeship 0.031 million m³ (1.5%); in Podlaskie Voivodeship 0.030 million m³ (1.5%); in Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship 0.024 million m³ (1.2%); in Zachodniopomorskie Voivodeship 0.020 million m³ (1.0%) and in Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship 0.007 million m³ (0.3%).

The figure given below shows changes in the domestic resources and production of the clay raw material for the building ceramics industry in Poland in the years 1989-2018.

Table 2. List of building ceramics raw materials deposits – thousand m³

Prepared by: Wojciech Szczygielski

2017

Main raw materials used for a building ceramics production are various clay rocks which mixed with water form a plastic mass easy to form and sands so-called ‘weaken sands’ which are added to a clayey raw material to improve the properties of the ceramic mass. Formed and burnt products must be of the appropriate physical and technical features defined by the official standards. Clay and non-clay (weaken) raw materials often occur together – in one deposit, in the form of beds or interbeddings, or as the independent accumulations.

The main building ceramic products are: ceramic bricks and breezeblocks, slates, clinker bricks, ceramic pavements. The raw material from some deposits is being used for the production of ceramic tiles, stoneware products, ceramic accessories and others.

Raw materials for the building ceramics production contain clayey minerals. Their content in different rocks varies. In loesses the clayey minerals content is low (couple of %), but in clays it can be 100%. Usually the content is between 40% and 60%. Other components are mainly quartz sand and dust, feldspars, calcite and dolomite in calcareous raw materials, iron minerals, mica minerals and organic matter. Clayey rocks built of only one mineral are very seldom, they mostly have several clayey minerals in their composition: kaolin, illite, montmorillonite and chlorites, occurring together in changeable proportions.

Building ceramics raw materials occur in the whole country. They vary in terms of their origin and age. Nowadays, the most important raw materials are these of the Quaternary, Neogene, Jurassic and Triassic age. Raw materials of Quaternary age include mainly stagnant lake sediments such as muds and clays occurring mainly in northern and central Poland. There are also loesses, glacial tills, alluvial sediments and those of weathering covers and sands used. Among older minerals the most important are Neogene clays of the so-called Poznań Series from south-western and central Poland and those of the Krakowiec clays from the area of the Carpathian Foredeep in south-eastern Poland. The Jurassic and Triassic deposits are situated at the margin of the Holy Cross Mts. and in the Czestochowa and Opole regions. Building ceramics raw materials deposits in Poland are presented on the map.

According to the Regulation of the Minister of the Environment of the 1^st of July 2015 (number of Polish act: Dz. U. 2015, poz. 987) the limit values of the parameters that defines the deposit (Appendix 8 – table 42) are: the maximum documentation depth – to the depth of a possible exploitation; the minimum thickness of the deposit – 2 m; the maximum overburden/thickness ratio – 0.5; the maximum content of grains bigger than 2 mm – 1%; the maximum content of ceramic marl with grains diameter bigger than 0.5 mm – 0.4%; the shrinkage in drying – minimum 6%.

The table given below shows reserves and the state of development and exploration of clay raw material for the building ceramics industry.

Table 1. Building ceramics raw material – million m³

Anticipated economic resources of building ceramics raw material amounted to 2,030.880 million m³ in 2017 (about 4,061.760 million tonnes) and decreased by 1.802 million m³ (about 3.604 million tonnes – 0.1%) in comparison with the previous year.

There were 4 new deposits documented in 2017: Bukówek in Dolnośląskie Voivodeship with anticipated economic resources equal 2.099 million m³, Markowicze I in Lubelskie Voivodeship with resources equal 5.510 million m³, Trześń-Łabuda IV in Podkarpackie Voivodeship with resources equal 0.031 million m³ and Witaszyce 1 in Wielkopolskie Voivodeship with resources equal 0.306 million m³. The latest one was allocated from Witaszyce deposit.

There were 22 new documentations with recalculated resources approved in 2017.

There were 11 deposits crossed out from ‘The balance…’ of which for 10 deposits there were new documentations with resources settlement approved and only Racibórz 1 i 2 deposit was crossed out due to the verification of documents issued in 1997. In Dolnośląskie Voivodeship there was 1 deposit crossed out: Ścinawka Średnia – the resources drop equal 1.759 million m³; in Lubuskie Voivodeship 1 deposit: Budych I – the resources drop equal 3.414 million m³; in Małopolskie Voivodeship 1 deposit: Wadowice-Łazówka – the resources drop equal 0.335 million m³; in Mazowieckie Voivodeship 3 deposits: Ciemne VI, Marki – Lisa Kuli 69 and Nowe Słupno V – the total resources drop equal 0.122 million m³; in Podkarpackie Voivodeship 1 deposit: Wrzawy – Woźniak III – the resources drop equal 0.003 million m³; in Śląskie Voivodeship 2 deposits: Racibórz and Racibórz 1 i 2 – the total resources drop equal 0.085 million m³; in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship 1 deposit: Wyszyna Machorowska II – the resources drop equal 0.046 million m³; in Wielkopolskie Voivodeship 1 deposit: Wysoka – the resources drop equal 0.026 million m³. The anticipated economic resources of the deposits mentioned above amounted to 5.789 million m³.

Pęglity deposit, located in Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship, was moved to the chapter Sand and gravel with anticipated economic resources of the deposit equal 0.353 million m³. The sands documented in this deposit meet the criteria for building sands but were exploited and used as a weaken raw material for the building ceramic production by a nearby ceramic factory. Therefore, the deposit was classified as a building ceramics raw material. Nowadays, due to the exploitation abandonment and the brick factory liquidation, the raw material qualification has changed.

Out of the total anticipated economic resources 12.3% are resources within exploited deposits, 71.3% resources within non-exploited deposits (from that 11.6% within deposits covered by a detailed exploration and 59.7% within deposits covered by a preliminary exploration) and 16.4% resources within abandoned deposits.

Out of 1,157 documented deposits of building ceramics clays 15.5% are exploited deposits (including 8.3% deposits exploited continuously and 7.2% – exploited temporarily), 26.5% non-exploited deposits (including 20.1% deposits covered by a detailed exploration and 6.4% – covered by a preliminary exploration) and 58.0% abandoned deposits.

Resources documented in A+B and C₁ categories (the detailed exploration) account for 34.5% of total anticipated economic resources. The remaining part of resources is documented in C₂ or D categories (the preliminary exploration). More than a half of resources covered by the preliminary exploration (54.7%) are resources documented within the overburden of non-exploited brown coal deposit Legnica-pole Wschodnie (727.65 million m³ of clays documented in C₂ category).

Economic resources were documented within 85 deposits and amounted to 140.813 million m³ (about 281.626 million tonnes) that accounts for 55.0% of anticipated economic resources of these deposits. The resources decreased by 13.404 million m³ (8.7%) in comparison with the previous year mainly as a result of the extinction of the abandoned deposits exploitation concessions.

In 2017, the output of building ceramics clays was equal 1.544 million m³ (about 3.088 million tonnes). It means that the production decreased by 0.038 million m³ (2.4%) in comparison with the previous year. The output of building ceramics raw materials is characterized by a declining tendency over the recent years and the amount recorded in 2017 was the lowest one over the several dozen years. Moreover, the part of the given output was used for other purposes than the production of building ceramics: 0.058 million m³ of clay and clay slate from Biecz 1 deposit was used for the flood banks building and 0.029 million m³ of loess raw material from Buśno deposit was used for the cement clinker kiln.

The low level of the output and the growing intensity of the searching of the alternative building raw materials uses are the result of the changes in the ceramic industry and the market. The liquidation of the consecutive ceramic factors is caused by: – the domination of the large-sized products; – the lower raw material consumption per a ceramic unit; – the growing competition of other building materials; – the progress of the building technology together with the low production profitability and the difficulties with the products sales. These factors determine the problems for factories in coping with the current economy conditions. Moreover, these factors cause also the loss of the deposits value as ceramic raw materials or as mineral in general, because they cannot be used for any other purpose. Such a situation is a base for the geological administration authorities to initiate the procedure of crossing the deposit and its non-exploited resources out from the national registry to make the areas enable for other purposes.

Considering particular voivodeships, the output was as follows (in a descending sequence): in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship 0.250 million m³ (16.2% of the domestic output); in Małopolskie Voivodeship 0.193 million m³ (12.5%); in Dolnośląskie Voivodeship 0.173 million m³ (11.2%); in Podkarpackie Voivodeship 0.155 million m³ (10.1%); in Mazowieckie Voivodeship 0.150 million m³ (9.7%); in Śląskie Voivodeship 0.149 million m³ (9.7%); in Opolskie Voivodeship 0.095 million m³ (6.2%); in Pomorskie Voivodeship 0.092 million m³ (6.0%); in Wielkopolskie Voivodeship 0.081 million m³ (5.3%); in Lubelskie Voivodeship 0.079 million m³ (5.1%); in Lubuskie Voivodeship 0.046 million m³ (3.0%); in Łódzkie Voivodeship 0.040 million m³ (2.6%); in Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship 0.019 million m³ (1.3%); in Podlaskie Voivodeship 0.010 million m³ (0.6%); in Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship 0.009 million m³ (0.6%) and in Zachodniopomorskie Voivodeship 0 million m³ (0.0%). Zachodniopomorskie Voivodeship is the only one without production (since 2012).

The figure given below shows changes in the domestic resources and production of the clay raw material for the building ceramics industry in Poland in the years 1989-2017.

Table 2. List of building ceramics raw materials deposits – thousand m³

Prepared by: Wojciech Szczygielski

2016

Main raw materials used for building ceramics production are clay rocks. Their suitability depends on their plasticity after they are mixed with water. If the plasticity is too high, the mix is corrected by adding such ingredients as sand, crushed brick and fly ash and sawdust. Clay and non-clay raw materials very often occur together – in one deposit.

The main building ceramic products are: ceramic bricks and breezeblocks, slates, clinker bricks, ceramic pavements.

Mineral raw materials used in the industry of building ceramics are varying in age and origin. Raw materials currently exploited for the needs of that industry in Poland come from deposits ranging in age from Permian to Quaternary. The deposits are distributed practically throughout the whole country. However, they are more common and larger in the southern part and also their differentiation appears higher than in other parts of the country.

Raw materials for building ceramics production contain clayey minerals. In loess, clayey minerals content is low (couple of %), but in clays it can be 100%. Usually the content is between 40-60%. Other components are quartz sand and dust, feldspars, calcite and dolomite, iron minerals, mica minerals and organic matter. Clayey rocks are very seldom built of only one mineral, they mostly have several clayey minerals in their composition: kaolin, illite, montmorillonite and chlorites, occurring together in changeable proportions.

Building ceramics raw materials occur in the whole country. They vary in terms of their origin and age. Nowadays, the most important raw materials are these of the Quaternary, Tertiary, Jurassic and Triassic age. Raw materials of Quaternary age include mainly stagnant lake sediments such as muds and clays occurring mainly in northern and central Poland. There are also loesses, glacial tills, alluvial sediments and those of weathering covers and sands used. Among older minerals the most important are Neogene clays of the so-called Poznań Series from south-western and central Poland and those of the Krakowiec clays from the area of the Carpathian Foredeep in south-eastern Poland. The Jurassic and Triassic deposits are situated at the margin of the Holy Cross Mts. and in the Czestochowa and Opole regions. Building ceramics raw materials deposits in Poland are presented on the map.

According to the Regulation of the Minister of the Environment of the 1^st of July 2015 (number of Polish act: Dz. U. 2015, poz. 987) the limit values of the parameters that defines the deposit (Appendix 8 – table 42) are: the maximum documentation depth – to the depth of possible exploitation; the minimum thickness of the deposit – 2 m; the maximum overburden/thickness ratio – 0.5; the maximum content of grains bigger than 2 mm – 1%; the maximum content of ceramic marl with grains diameter bigger than 0.5 mm – 0.4%; the shrinkage in drying – minimum 6%.

The table given below shows reserves and the state of development and exploration of clay raw material for the building ceramics industry.

Table 1. Building ceramics raw material – million m³

Anticipated economic resources amounted to 2,032.682 million m³ in 2016 (about 4,065.364 million tonnes) and decreased by 4.587 million m³ (about 9.174 million tonnes – 0.23%).

There were 6 new deposits documented in 2016. 1 deposit in Łódzkie Voivodeship: Michałów VI; 2 deposits in Podkarpackie Voivodeship: Wrzawy Jurek 2 and Zalesie Gorzyckie – Dul 9; 1 deposit in Śląskie Voivodeship: Leśna 1; 1 deposit in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship: Wyszyna Rudzka; 1 deposit in Zachodniopomorskie Voivodeship: Drawno. Their total anticipated economic resources amounted to 2.605 million m³.

There were 18 deposits crossed out from ‘The balance…’. In Lubelskie Voivodeship 3 deposits: Stawki, Stawki IV, Wincentów I – with resources equal 0.048 million m³; in Lubuskie Voivodeship 1 deposit: Brzozowiec I – 0.154 million m³; in Łódzkie Voivodeship 1 deposit: Michałów V – 0.003 million m³; in Małopolskie Voivodeship 1 deposit: Wojnarowa I – 0.305 million m³; in Mazowieckie Voivodeship 5 deposits: Kobyłka-dz.59, Kosewo 1, Kosewo 2, Radziejowice (2.772 million m³), Radzymin – zarej. – total resources equal 2.890 million m³; in Podkarpackie Voivodeship 3 deposits: Wrzawy – Woźniak 2, Zalesie Gorzyckie-Kułaga I, Gorzyce-Grzegorzek 1 – total resources equal 0.021 million m³; in Pomorskie Voivodeship 1 deposit: Łapalice – 0.000 million m³ (anticipated economic resources only within protective pillars and anticipated sub-economic resources); in Śląskie Voivodeship 2 deposits: Bogucice and Kawki – total resources equal 0.324 million m³; in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship 1 deposit: Przełom – 0.049 million m³. Total resources of the deposits mentioned above amounted to 3.793 million m³.

Out of the total anticipated economic resources 13.5% are resources within exploited deposits, 70.9% resources within non-exploited deposits (from that 11.5% within deposits covered by detailed exploration and 59.4% within deposits covered by preliminary exploration) and 15.6% resources within abandoned deposits.

Out of 1,171 documented deposits of building ceramics clays, 17.9% are exploited deposits (including 9.0% deposits exploited continuously and 8.9% – exploited temporarily), 26.2% non-exploited deposits (including 20.0% deposits covered by detailed exploration and 6.2% – covered by preliminary exploration) and 55.9% abandoned deposits.

Resources documented in A+B and C₁ categories (detailed exploration) account for 34.9% of total anticipated economic resources. The remaining part of resources is documented in C₂ category (preliminary exploration). More than a half of resources in C₂ category (54.9%) are resources documented within the overburden of non-exploited brown coal deposit Legnica-pole Wschodnie (727.65 million m³ of clays).

Economic resources within 102 deposits amounted to 154.217 million m³ (about 308.434 million tonnes) that accounts for 55.0% of anticipated economic resources of these deposits. The resources decreased by 2.805 million m³ (1.8%) in comparison with the previous year.

In 2016, production of building ceramics clays was equal 1.582 million m³ (about 3.164 million tonnes). It means that the production slightly decreased (by 0.085 million m³ – 5.1%) in comparison with the previous year. Generally speaking, the output of building ceramics raw materials is characterized by declining tendency over the recent years.

Considering particular voivodeships, the output was as follows (in descending sequence): in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship 0.249 million m³ (15.7% of domestic output); in Śląskie Voivodeship 0.223 million m³ (14.1%); in Dolnośląskie Voivodeship 0.165 million m³ (10.4%); in Opolskie Voivodeship 0.165 million m³ (10.4%); in Małopolskie Voivodeship 0.153 million m³ (9.7%); in Mazowieckie Voivodeship 0.126 million m³ (8.0%); in Podkarpackie Voivodeship 0.125 million m³ (7.9%); in Pomorskie Voivodeship 0.103 million m³ (6.5%); in Wielkopolskie Voivodeship 0.093 million m³ (5.9%); in Lubelskie Voivodeship 0.067 million m³ (4.2%); in Lubelskie Voivodeship 0.043 million m³ (2.7%); in Łódzkie Voivodeship 0.028 million m³ (1.8%); in Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship 0.025 million m³ (1.6%); in Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship 0.009 million m³ (0.6%); in Podlaskie Voivodeship 0.008 million m³ (0.5%). Zachodniopomorskie Voivodeship is the only one without production (since 2012).

There was also 1 change of deposit name – Moszczenica (former name: Moszczenica No 6) in Śląskie Voivodeship – according to the decision approving the documentation.

The figure given below shows changes in domestic resources and production of clay raw material for building ceramics industry in Poland in the years 1989-2016.

Table 2. List of building ceramics raw materials deposits – thousand m³

Prepared by: Wojciech Szczygielski

2015

Mineral raw materials used in the industry of building ceramics are varying in age and origin. Raw materials currently exploited for the needs of that industry in Poland come from deposits ranging in age from the Permian to Quaternary. The deposits are distributed practically throughout the whole country. However, they are more common and larger in the south and also their differentiation appears higher than in other parts of the country.

The main building ceramic products are: ceramic bricks and breezeblocks, slates, clinker bricks and ceramic pavements.

Main raw materials used for building ceramics production are clay rocks. Their suitability depends on their plasticity after they are mixed with water. If the plasticity is too high, the mix is corrected by adding such ingredients as sand, crushed brick and fly ash and sawdust. Clay and non-clay raw materials very often occur together – in one deposit.

Raw materials for building ceramics production contain clayey minerals. In loess clayey minerals content is low (couple of %), but in clays it can be 100%. Usually the content is between 40-60%. Other components are quartz sand and dust, feldspars, calcite and dolomite, iron minerals, mica minerals and organic matter.

The most important raw materials of the Quaternary age include stagnant lake sediments such as muds and clays occurring mainly in northern and central Poland as well as loess, glacial tills, alluvial sediments and those of weathering covers and sands. The most important raw materials of the Tertiary age include clays of the so-called Poznań Series from south-western and central Poland and those of the Krakowiec Clays from the area of the Carpathian Foredeep in south-eastern Poland. The Triassic and Jurassic deposits are situated at the margin of the Holy Cross Mts and in the Czestochowa and Opole regions. Building ceramics raw materials deposits in Poland are presented on the map.

According to the Regulation of the Minister of the Environment of the 1^st of July 2015 (number of Polish act: Dz. U. 2015, poz. 987) the limit values of the parameters that defines the deposit (Appendix 8 – table 42) are: the maximum documentation depth – to the depth of possible exploitation; the minimum thickness of the deposit – 2 m; the maximum overburden/thickness ratio – 0.5; the maximum content of grains bigger than 2 mm – 1%; the maximum content of ceramic marl with grains diameter bigger than 0.5 mm – 0.4%; the shrinkage in drying – minimum 6%.

The table given below shows reserves and the state of development and exploration of clay raw material for the building ceramics industry.

Table 1. Building ceramics raw material – million m³

Anticipated economic resources amounted to 2,037.27 million m³ in 2015 (about 4,074.54 million tonnes) and decreased by 5.80 million m³ (about 11.60 million tonnes – 0.28%).

There were 5 new deposits documented in 2015 (with total resources equal 0.201 million m³ from which 0.129 million m³ are newly-documented): Ołdrzychów I (0.072 million m³) in Dolnośląskie Voivodeship, allocated from Ołdrzychów deposit; 4 other deposits are newly-documented: Chwałowice–Bałdos I (0.020 million m³), Gorzyce–Cetnarski III (0.008 million m³), Otałęż–Głowacki 2 (0.012 million m³) located in Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Lewkowo Stare 3 (0.090 million m³) in Podlaskie Voivodeship.

There were 26 deposits crossed out from ‘The balance…’ with resources partially included within other deposits borders. In Dolnośląskie Voivodeship 10 deposits: Bartek, Bądzów – zarej., Chocianów, Dębno, Gryfów Śląski, Jaśkowice Legnickie, Jelenia Góra (Ceg.), Kamienna Góra, Pawice I i II, Ruszowice – with total resources equal 2.015 million m³; in Łódzkie Voivodeship 2 deposits: Dąbrówka and Klewków II – resources equal 1.386 million m³; in Małopolskie Voivodeship 2 deposits: Gorlice 4 and Ołpiny – resources equal 0.483 million m³; in Mazowieckie Voivodeship 3 deposits: Ciemne I, Góry II and Kobyłka dz.850 – resources equal 0.034 million m³; in Podkarpackie Voivodeship 4 deposits: Chwałowice Maj IV, Dąbrówka Pniowska V, Rożniaty-Piatek IV, Siedleszczany dz.443,444 – resources equal 0.107 million m³; in Podlaskie Voivodeship 2 deposits: Lewkowo Stare II and Lewkowo Stare II/A – resources equal 0.250 million m³ (0.007 million m³ were subsumed into other deposit); in Śląskie Voivodeship 2 deposits: Miedary I and Woźniki Śląskie – resources equal 0.512 million m³; in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship 1 deposit: Oleśnica 2 – resources equal 21.553 million m³ (all resources have been subsumed into Oleśnica 1 deposit which is under exploitation).

The anticipated economic resources of the deposits crossed out from ‘The balance…’ amounted to 26.330 million m³ and 21.560 million m³ of this sum were subsumed into resources of other deposits in ‘The balance…’.

Out of the total anticipated economic resources 13.9% are resources within exploited deposits, 70.7% are resources within non-exploited deposits (from that 11.4% within deposits covered by detailed exploration and 59.3% within deposits covered by preliminary exploration) and 15.5% are resources within abandoned deposits.

Out of 1,191 documented deposits of building ceramics clays, 18.3% of deposits are exploited (including 9.7% deposits exploited continuously and 8.6% – exploited temporarily) and 25.8% deposits are non-exploited (including 19.6% deposits covered by detailed exploration and 6.1% – covered by preliminary exploration). The remaining deposits were abandoned (55.9%).

Economic resources within 103 deposits amounted to 157.022 million m³ (about 314.044 million tonnes) that accounts for 54.7% of anticipated economic resources of these deposits. The resources decreased by 8.19 million m³ (5.0%) in comparison with the previous year.

In 2015, production of building ceramics clays was equal 1.667 million m³ (about 3.334 million tonnes) (table 2). It means significant decrease (by 0.286 million m³ – 14.6%) in comparison with the previous year. Traditionally, the biggest production is recorded in: Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (0.259 million m³ – 15.6% of domestic production), Podkarpackie Voivodeship (0.190 million m³ – 11.4% of domestic production), Dolnośląskie Voivodeship (0.181 million m³ – 10.9% of domestic production), Śląskie Voivodeship (0.171 million m³ – 10.3% of domestic production), Mazowieckie Voivodeship (0.147 million m³ – 8.8% of domestic production). Furthermore, the production amounted to: Pomorskie Voivodeship – 0.120 million m³ – 7.2% of domestic production, Lubelskie Voivodeship – 0.115 million m³ – 6.9% of domestic production, Małopolskie Voivodeship – 0.110 million m³ – 6.6% of domestic production, Opolskie Voivodeship – 0.103 million m³ – 6.2% of domestic production, Wielkopolskie Voivodeship – 0.092 million m³ – 5.5% of domestic production, Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship – 0.062 million m³ – 3.7% of domestic production, Podlaskie Voivodeship – 0.036 million m³ – 2.2% of domestic production, Lubuskie Voivodeship – 0.035 million m³ – 2.1% of domestic production, Łódzkie Voivodeship – 0.033 million m³ – 2.0% of domestic production, Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship – 0.010 million m³ – 0.6% of domestic production. The Zachodniopomorskie Voivodeship is the only one without production (since 2012).

There were also 4 changes of deposit names – Legnica-pole Wschodnie (former: Legnica-p.Wschodnie) in Dolnośląskie Voivodeship, Pilzno-Jaworze dolne (former: Pilzno-Jaworze D) in Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Żarki Nr 3 (former: Żarki) in Śląskie Voivodeship and Rostarzewo (former: Rostarzewo I i II) in Wielkopolskie Voivodeship.

The figure given below shows changes in domestic resources and production of clay raw material for building ceramics industry in Poland in the years 1989-2015.

Table 2. List of building ceramics raw materials deposits – thousand m³

Prepared by: Wojciech Szczygielski

2014

Mineral raw materials used in the industry of building ceramics are varying in age and origin. Raw materials currently exploited for the needs of that industry in Poland come from deposits ranging in age from the Permian to Quaternary. The deposits are distributed practically throughout the whole country. However, they are more common and larger in the south also their differentiation appears higher than in other parts of the country.

The main building ceramic products are: ceramic bricks and breezeblocks, slates, clinker bricks, ceramic pavements.

Main raw materials used for building ceramics production are clay rocks. Their suitability depends on their plasticity after they are mixed with water. If the plasticity is too high, the mix is corrected by adding such ingredients as sand, crushed brick and fly ash and sawdust. Clay and non-clay raw materials very often occur together – in one deposit.

Raw materials for building ceramics production contain clayey minerals. In loess clayey minerals content is low (couple of %), but in clays it can be 100%. Usually the content is between 40-60%. Other components are quartz sand and dust, feldspars, calcite and dolomite, iron minerals, mica minerals and organic matter.

The most important raw materials of the Quaternary age include stagnant lake sediments such as muds and clays occurring mainly in northern and central Poland as well as loess, glacial tills, alluvial sediments and those of weathering covers and sands. The most important raw materials of the Tertiary age include clays of the so-called Poznań Series from south-western and central Poland and those of the Krakowiec Clays from the area of the Carpathian Foredeep in south-eastern Poland. The Triassic and Jurassic deposits are situated at the margin of the Holy Cross Mts and in the Czestochowa and Opole regions. Building ceramics raw materials deposits in Poland are presented on the map.

According to the Regulation of the Minister of the Environment of the 22^nd of December 2011 (number of Polish act: Dz. U. Nr 291, poz. 1712.) the limit values of the parameters that defines the deposit are: – the maximum documentation depth – to the depth of possible exploitation; – the minimum thickness of the deposit – 2 m; – the maximum overburden/thickness ratio – 0.5; the maximum content of grains bigger than 2 mm – 1%; – the maximum content of ceramic marl with grains diameter bigger than 0.5 mm – 0.4%; – the shrinkage in drying minimum 6%. These limit values have not changed in comparison to the previous ‘balancing criterias’ (obtaining since the 1st of January 2002 to 31^st of December 2011).

The table given below shows reserves and the state of development and exploration of clay raw material for the building ceramics industry.

Table 1. Building ceramics raw material – million m³

Anticipated economic resources amounted to 2,043.07 million m³ in 2014 (about 4,086.14 million tonnes) and decreased by 0.45 million m³ (about 0.90 million tonnes – 0.02%).

There were 2 new deposits documented (+0.183 million m³): Barcik 10 in Mazowieckie Voivodeship (with resources equal 0.170 million m³) and Pniów-Bałdos I in Podkarpackie Voivodeship (with resources of equal 0.013 million m³).

There were also 22 new documentations approved for documented deposits – due to the exploitation ending or deposit boundaries changes.

There were 15 deposits crossed out of ‘The balance…’ (−1.590 million m³): including: 4 deposits in Dolnośląskie Voivodeship (Pęgów, Proszówka, Słupiec, Trzebnica), 1 in Lubelskie Voivodeship (Kraśnik-Suchynia W), 1 in Małopolskie Voivodeship (Tropie Góry 2), 3 in Mazowieckie Voivodeship (Kobyłka-Maciołki DM, Marki Wesoła 57, Słupno-Wawrzynów 2), 1 in Opolskie Voivodeship (Skarbiszowice III), 3 in Podkarpackie voivodeship (Gorzyce-Korga, Wrzawy – Laskowski V, Zalesie Gorzyckie – Dul 6), 1 in Śląskie Voivodeship (Buków A) and 1 in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (Ruszcza I).

The boundaries changes caused the amendments of resources (+2.223 million m³) for: Kęty deposit in Małopolskie Voivodeship (−0.433 million m³), Janiszów deposit in Lubelskie Voivodeship (+0.015 million m³), Gaboń-Grabie in Małopolskie Voivodeship (+0.072 million m³), Pniów-Bera VIII (+0.004 million m³) and Wrzawy-Laskowski VI (+0.014 million m³) in Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Opalenie in Pomorskie Voivodeship (+0.514 million m³), Kolosy (+0.165 million m³) and Wyszyna Fałkowska III (+1.439 million m³) in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship.

The resources increased significantly also in Krotoszyn Stary deposit – by 0.619 million m³. There were also recalculations of resources made for Pogolewo Duże deposit in Dolnośląskie Voivodeship (+0.618 million m³), Przygodzice (pole II I ob.Wysocko) deposit in Wielkopolskie Voivodeship (+0.148 million m³) and Gliwice zakł.nr 3 deposit in Śląskie Voivodeshi (−0.196 million m³).

The resources decreased also due to the exploitation and loesses (−2.065 million m³).

Out of the total anticipated economic resources 19.4% are resources within exploited deposits, 71.7% are resources within non-exploited deposits and 15.2% are resources within abandoned deposits.

Out of 1,201 documented deposits of building ceramics clays, 19.4% of deposits are exploited (including 11.2% deposits exploited continuously and 8.2% – exploited temporarily) and 25.8% deposits are non-exploited (including 19.7% deposits covered by detailed exploration and 6.1% – covered by preliminary exploration). The remaining deposits were abandoned (54.8%).

Economic resources within 131 deposits amounted to 165.21 million m³ (about 330.42 million tonnes) and increased by 7.59 million m³ (4.8%) in comparison with the previous year.

In 2014, production of building ceramics clays was equal 1.953 million m³ (about 3.906 million tonnes). It means significant increase (by 0.435 million m³ – 28.7%) in comparison with the previous year. Traditionally, the biggest production is observed in the southern Poland – Dolnośląskie Voivodeship (0.302 million m³ – 15.5% of domestic production), Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (0.269 million m³ – 13.8% of domestic production), Śląskie Voivodeship (0.230 million m³ – 11.8% of domestic production), Mazowieckie Voivodeship (0.201 million m³ – 10.3% of domestic production), Małopolskie Voivodeship (0.192 million m³ – 9.9% of domestic production) and Podkarpackie Voivodeship (0.187 million m³ – 9.6% of domestic production). The production from these 6 Voivodeships accounts for 70.8% of domestic production. The only Voivodeship without production (since 2012) is Zachodniopomorskie voivodeship.

There were also 5 changes of deposit names – Pawice I i II (former: Pawice) in Dolnośląskie voivodeship, Silesia B (former: Silesia) and Pawłów (former: Pawłow) in Śląskie Voivodeship, Kolosy (former: Kolosy 1) in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Przygodzice (pole II I ob.Wysocko) (former: Przygodzice (ob.Wysocko)) in Wielkopolskie Voivodeship, Polanów (former: Polanów I) in Zachodniopomorskie Voivodeship.

The figure given below shows changes in domestic resources and production of clay raw material for building ceramics industry in Poland in the years 1989-2014.

Table 2. List of building ceramics raw materials deposits – thousand m³

Prepared by: Wojciech Szczygielski

2013

Mineral raw materials used in the industry of building ceramics are varying in age and origin. Raw materials currently exploited for the needs of that industry in Poland come from deposits ranging in age from the Permian to Quaternary. The deposits are distributed practically throughout the whole country. However, they are more common and larger in the south also their differentiation appears higher than in other parts of the country.

The main building ceramic products are: ceramic bricks and breezeblocks, slates, clinker bricks, ceramic pavements.

Main raw materials used for building ceramics production are clay rocks. Their suitability depends on their plasticity after they are mixed with water. If the plasticity is too high, the mix is corrected by adding such ingredients as sand, crushed brick and fly ash and sawdust. Clay and non-clay raw materials very often occur together – in one deposit.

Raw materials for building ceramics production contain clayey minerals. In loess clayey minerals content is low (couple of %), but in clays it can be 100%. Usually the content is between 40-60%. Other components are quartz sand and dust, feldspars, calcite and dolomite, iron minerals, mica minerals and organic matter.

The most important raw materials of the Quaternary age include stagnant lake sediments such as muds and clays occurring mainly in northern and central Poland as well as loess, glacial tills, alluvial sediments and those of weathering covers and sands. The most important raw materials of the Tertiary age include clays of the so-called Poznań Series from south-western and central Poland and those of the Krakowiec Clays from the area of the Carpathian Foredeep in south-eastern Poland. The Triassic and Jurassic deposits are situated at the margin of the Holy Cross Mts and in the Czestochowa and Opole regions. Building ceramics raw materials deposits in Poland are presented on the map.

According to the Regulation of the Minister of the Environment of the 22^nd of December 2011 (number of Polish act: Dz. U. Nr 291, poz. 1712.) the limit values of the parameters that defines the deposit are: – the maximum documentation depth – to the depth of possible exploitation; – the minimum thickness of the deposit – 2 m; – the maximum overburden/thickness ratio – 0.5; the maximum content of grains bigger than 2 mm – 1%; – the maximum content of ceramic marl with grains diameter bigger than 0.5 mm – 0.4%; – the shrinkage in drying minimum 6%. These limit values have not changed in comparison to the previous ‘balancing criterias’ (obtaining since the 1st of January 2002 to 31^st of December 2011).

The table given below shows reserves and the state of development and exploration of clay raw material for the building ceramics industry.

Table 1. Building ceramics raw material – million m³

Anticipated economic resources amounted to 2,043.52 million m³ in 2013 (about 4,087.04 million tonnes) and increased by 11.63 million m³ (about 23.26 million tonnes).

There were 4 new deposits documented: Wrzawy – Laskowski VI in Podkarpackie Voivodeship (with resources equal 0.024 million m³), Oleśnica 2, Samsonów – Ciągłe and Wyszyna Machorowska III in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (with resources equal 21.553 million m³, 2.963 million m³ and 1.524 million m³ respectively). The total anticipated economic resources growth amounted to 24.539 million m³ and anticipated subeconomic resources to 1.611 million m³.

Due to the new documentation approved there were 20 deposits crossed out of ‘The balance…’: – Fordon and Papowo in Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship, Dąbrowa and Sabaudia II – pole B in Lubelskie Voivodeship, Zesławice in Małopolskie voivodeship, Kobyłka Kolonia Chór-dz.46, Marki ul. Szkolna 74 and Zawady 1 in Mazowieckie Voivodeship, Chwałowice – Bałdos, Chwałowice-Maj, Pniów dz.ew. 716/2, Rożniaty-Piątek I, Rożniaty-Piątek II, Trześń-Foltarz II, Wrzawy-Jurek and Wrzawy-Jurek I in Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Karbowa, Miasteczko Śląskie and Pacanów 5 in Śląskie Voivodeship and Kotuń in Wielkopolskie Voivodeship. The total anticipated economic resources drop amounted to 10.597 million m³.

The resources decreased significantly also in Rypinek deposit (Wielkopolskie Voivodeship) – by 1.316 million m³, Rojów deposit (Wielkopolskie Voivodeship) – by 0.106 million m³ and Ruszowice II deposit (Dolnośląskie Voivodeship) – by 0.107 million m³.

The most significant increases of resources were noted for Sierakowice deposit (Śląskie Voivodeship) – by 0.855 million m³, Cienia deposit (Wielkopolskie Voivodeship) – by 0.184 million m³ and Faustianka deposit (Śląskie Voivodeship) – 0.166 million m³.

Out of the total anticipated economic resources 13.1% are resources within exploited deposits, 71.8% are resources within non-exploited deposits and 15.1% are resources within abandoned deposits.

Out of 1,219 documented deposits of building ceramics clays, 20.0% of deposits are exploited (including 10.5% deposits exploited continuously and 9.5% – exploited temporarily) and 25.7% deposits are non-exploited (including 19.7% deposits covered by detailed exploration and 6.0% – covered by preliminary exploration). The remaining deposits were abandoned (54.3%).

Economic resources within 139 deposits amounted to 157.62 million m³ (about 315.24 million tonnes) and increased by 10.36 million m³ (7.0%) in comparison with the previous year.

In 2013, production of building ceramics clays was equal 1.518 million m³ (about 3.036 million tonnes). It means significant drop (by 0.317 million m³ – 17.2%) in comparison with the previous year. Traditionally, the biggest production is observed in the southern Poland – Dolnośląskie Voivodeship (0.228 million m³), Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (0.195 million m³), Podkarpackie Voivodeship (0.192 million m³), Śląskie Voivodeship (0.170 million m³), Małopolskie Voivodeship (0.140 million m³) and Opolskie Voivodeship (0.117 million m³).

The figure given below shows changes in domestic resources and production of clay raw material for building ceramics industry in Poland in the years 1989-2013.

Table 2. List of building ceramics raw materials deposits – thousand m³

Prepared by: Wojciech Szczygielski

2012

Mineral raw materials used in the industry of building ceramics are varying in age and origin. Raw materials currently exploited for the needs of that industry in Poland come from deposits ranging in age from the Permian to Quaternary. The deposits are distributed practically throughout the whole country. However, they are more common and larger in the south also their differentiation appears higher than in other parts of the country.

The main building ceramic products are: ceramic bricks and breezeblocks, slates, clinker bricks, ceramic pavements.

Main raw materials used for building ceramics production are clay rocks. Their suitability depends on their plasticity after they are mixed with water. If the plasticity is too high, the mix is corrected by adding such ingredients as sand, crushed brick and fly ash and sawdust. Clay and non-clay raw materials very often occur together – in one deposit.

Raw materials for building ceramics production contain clayey minerals. In loess clayey minerals content is low (couple of %), but in clays it can be 100%. Usually the content is between 40-60%. Other components are quartz sand and dust, feldspars, calcite and dolomite, iron minerals, mica minerals and organic matter.

The most important raw materials of the Quaternary age include stagnant lake sediments such as muds and clays occurring mainly in northern and central Poland as well as loess, glacial tills, alluvial sediments and those of weathering covers and sands. The most important raw materials of the Tertiary age include clays of the so-called Poznań Series from south-western and central Poland and those of the Krakowiec Clays from the area of the Carpathian Foredeep in south-eastern Poland. The Triassic and Jurassic deposits are situated at the margin of the Holy Cross Mts and in the Czestochowa and Opole regions. Building ceramics raw materials deposits in Poland are presented on the map.

According to the Regulation of the Minister of the Environment of the 22^nd of December 2011 (number of Polish act: Dz. U. Nr 291, poz. 1712.) the limit values of the parameters that defines the deposit are: – the maximum documentation depth – to the depth of possible exploitation; – the minimum thickness of the deposit – 2 m; – the maximum overburden/thickness ratio – 0.5; the maximum content of grains bigger than 2 mm – 1%; – the maximum content of ceramic marl with grains diameter bigger than 0.5 mm – 0.4%; – the shrinkage in drying minimum 6%.

The table given below shows reserves and the state of development and exploration of clay raw material for the building ceramics industry.

Table 1. Building ceramics raw material – million m³

Anticipated economic resources amounted to 2,031.89 million m³ in 2012 (about 4,063.78 million tonnes) and increased by 9.54 million m³ (about 19.08 million tonnes).

There were 8 new deposits documented: Borów II in Lubelskie Voivodeship, Rakszawa-Pikor in Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Filipy, Wyszyna Fałkowska II and Wyszyna Fałkowska III in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Marcinowo and Sypitki in Warmińsko-mazurskie Voivodeship and Rojów 2 in Wielkopolskie Voivodeship.

There were 16 deposits crossed out of ‘The balance…’: Lisów II in Lubelskie Voivodeship, Kalinów I, Mniszków and Quaternary clays from the overburden of Unewel-Wschód in Łódzkie Voivodeship, Mokre II in Mazowieckie Voivodeship, Pniów-Bera VII, Różniaty-Piątek V and Zarzecze 1 in Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Alina, Buków II, Grodzisko, Łąka II and Pacanów 2 in Śląskie Voivodeship, Wyszyna Fałkowska and Wyszyna Machorowska I in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship and Guzy II in Warmińsko-mazusrkie Voivodeship. That resulted in the drop in resources – by 1.07 million m³.

Out of the total anticipated economic resources 13.4% are resources within exploited deposits, 71.0% are resources within non-exploited deposits and 15.6% are resources within abandoned deposits.

Out of 1,235 documented deposits of building ceramics clays, 20.6% of deposits are exploited (including 12.8% deposits exploited continuously and 7.8% – exploited from temporarily) and 25.4% deposits are non-exploited (including 19.5% deposits covered by detailed exploration and 5.9% – covered by preliminary exploration). The remaining deposits were abandoned (54.0%).

Economic resources within 140 deposits amounted to 147.26 million m³ (about 294.52 million tonnes) and decreased by 14.15 million m³ (8.8%) in comparison with the previous year.

In 2012, production of building ceramics clays was equal 1.83 million m³ (about 3.66 million tonnes). It means significant drop (by 0.474 million m³ – 20.5%) in comparison with the previous year.

The production in concentrated mainly in the northern Poland and within Mazowieckie, Świętokrzyskie and Pomorskie Voivodeship. These areas accounted for 83% of total production.

The figure given below shows changes in domestic resources and production of clay raw material for building ceramics industry in Poland in the years 1989-2012.

Table 2. List of building ceramics raw materials deposits – thousand m³

Prepared by: Wojciech Szczygielski

2011

Mineral raw materials used in the industry of building ceramics are varying in age and origin. Raw materials currently exploited for the needs of that industry in Poland come from deposits ranging in age from the Permian to Quaternary. The deposits are distributed practically throughout the whole country. However, they are more common and larger in the south also their differentiation appears higher than in other parts of the country.

The main building ceramic products are: ceramic bricks and breezeblocks, slates, clinker bricks, ceramic pavements.

Main raw materials used for building ceramics production are clay rocks. Their suitability depends on their plasticity after they are mixed with water. If the plasticity is too high, the mix is corrected by adding such ingredients as sand, crushed brick and fly ash and sawdust. Clay and non-clay raw materials very often occur together – in one deposit.

Raw materials for building ceramics production contain clayey minerals. In loess clayey minerals content is low (couple of %), but in clays it can be 100%. Usually the content is between 40-60%. Other components are quartz sand and dust, feldspars, calcite and dolomite, iron minerals, mica minerals and organic matter.

The most important raw materials of the Quaternary age include stagnant lake sediments such as muds and clays occurring mainly in northern and central Poland as well as loess, glacial tills, alluvial sediments and those of weathering covers and sands. The most important raw materials of the Tertiary age include clays of the so-called Poznań Series from south-western and central Poland and those of the Krakowiec Clays from the area of the Carpathian Foredeep in south-eastern Poland. The Triassic and Jurassic deposits are situated at the margin of the Holy Cross Mts and in the Czestochowa and Opole regions. Building ceramics raw materials deposits in Poland are presented on the map.

According to the Regulation of the Minister of the Environment of the 22^nd of December 2011 (number of Polish act: Dz. U. Nr 291, poz. 1712.) the limit values of the parameters that defines the deposit are: – the maximum documentation depth – to the depth of possible exploitation; – the minimum thickness of the deposit – 2 m; – the maximum overburden/thickness ratio – 0.5; the maximum content of grains bigger than 2 mm – 1%; – the maximum content of ceramic marl with grains diameter bigger than 0.5 mm – 0.4%; – the shrinkage in drying minimum 6%.

The table given below shows reserves and the state of development and exploration of clay raw material for the building ceramics industry.

Table 1. Building ceramics raw material – million m³

Anticipated economic resources amounted to 2,022.35 million m³ in 2011 (about 4,044.70 million tonnes) and increased by 2.28 million m³ (about 4.56 million tonnes).

There were 23 new deposits documented: ‘Bełchatów-p.Szczerców’ (ceramic clays are exploited from the overburden of the brown coal deposit), ‘Zelówek V’ in łódzkie voivodeship, ‘Tropie Góry 2’ in małopolskie voivodeship, ‘Kobyłka I’ in mazowieckie voivodeship, ‘Brandwica-Śpiewak II’, ‘Chwałowice-Maj V’, ‘Chwałowice-Pasztaleniec’, ‘Chwałowice-Pasztaleniec I’, ‘Gorzyce-Grzegorzek II’, ‘Jaworski VIII’, ‘Pniów-Bera VIII’, ‘Przecław-Podlesie 1’, ‘Trzeboś’, ‘Trześń-Kułaga VII’, ‘Trześń-Kułaga VIII’, ‘Trześń-Sołtys IV’, ‘Wrzawy – Woźniak III’ in podkarpackie vovivodeship, ‘Filipy I’, ‘Odonów 1’, ‘Wyszyna Fałkowska I’, ‘Wyszyna Machorowska II’ in świętokrzyskie voivodeship, ‘Stożne X’ in warmińsko-mazurskie voivodeship, ‘Przysieka Polska Creaton’ in wielkopolskie voivodeship.

There were 13 deposits crossed out of the ‘Balance…’: ‘Prochowice’ – dolnośląskie voivodeship, ‘Chociw’, ‘Kolonia Kociszew VI’, ‘Kolonia Łobudzice’ – łódzkie voivodeship, ‘Kobyłka Osiedle Chór’, ‘Małopole I’, ‘Marki-Fabryczna-Szkolna’ – mazowieckie voivodeship, ‘Czerwone Osiedle 1’ – opolskie voivodeship, ‘Brandwica-Śpiewak I’, ‘Chwałowice - Bierut I’, ‘Chwałowice dz.604-610’, ‘Pniów-Bera VI’, ‘Zarzecze-Hawryły I’ – podkarpackie voivodeship. That resulted in the drop in resources – by 1.38 million m³.

Out of the total anticipated economic resources 12.9% are resources within exploited deposits, 71.9% are resources within non-exploited deposits and 15.3% are resources within abandoned deposits.

Out of 1,240 documented deposits of building ceramics clays, 21.2% deposits are exploited (including 15.1% deposits exploited continuously and 6.1% – exploited from time to time) and 25.9% deposits are non-exploited (including 19.9% deposits covered by detailed exploration and 6.0% – covered by preliminary exploration). The remaining 52.9% of deposits were abandoned.

Economic resources within 157 deposits amounted to 161.41 million m³ (about 322.82 million tonnes) and decreased by 3.63 million m³ in comparison with the previous year.

In 2011, production of building ceramics clays was equal 2.31 million m³ (about 4.62 million tonnes). This means that it was only slightly higher (by 0.15 million m³) than in the previous year.

Output – thousand m³

The production was the highest in podkarpackie (353 thousand m³), świętokrzyskie (286 thousand m³), mazowieckie (284 thousand m³), małopolskie (284 thousand m³) and śląskie (232 thousand m³) voivodeships.

The figure given below shows changes in domestic resources and production of clay raw material for building ceramics industry in Poland in the years 1989-2011.

Table 2. List of building ceramics raw materials deposits – thousand m³

Prepared by: Wojciech Szczygielski