Anthropogenic sediments from facultative lagoons of the Konstancin-Jeziorna sewage treatment facility and their usability for soil recultivation

The sewage treatment facility of a paper mill at Konstancin-Jeziorna was opened to process industrial and domestic wastewater. After closure of that mill, the sewage treatment facility had to be rebuilt and modernized. Therefore, it was necessary to analyse the chemical and phase composition of the sediments from facultative lagoons used for biological treatment of wastewater. Eight samples of sediments were taken to identify a general phase composition by X-ray diffraction and ten to determine concentrations of selected main and trace elements with the use of ICP-AES and AMA methods.The analyses showed that the sediments consisted of over 90% of mineral fraction, mainly kaolinite, calcite, and quartz and also neomorphic smithsonite. They contained low quantities of Hg, Cd, Co and Mo, and elevated concentrations of Zn, Ba, Mn and Sr. Comparisons of the obtained mean values with admissible concentrations of metals, as defined by Regulation of the Minister of Environment of 9 September 2002, showed that the mean concentrations of As, Sn, Co, Mo and Ni (and also of Hg and Cr in the southern lagoon) met quality standards for soils in areas under protection (group A). Mean concentrations of Pb (both lagoons), Ba, Cu, Cd (northern lagoon) as well as Cr and Hg (southern lagoon) in sediments are higher. However, they still meet standards for areas usable for agricultural and other purposes (group B). The highest concentrations were recorded for Zn, Cd, Cu and Ba in samples from the southern lagoon. These continued to be lower than all the limits acceptable for industrial areas.

Evolution of the main directions of the PGI activity during 1919-2019

Over the course of 100 years the main goals set for the Polish Geological Institute were subject to important changes depending on knowledge of the geological structure of the country, current demand for mineral raw materials and the economic system of the state. The first period comprised the years 1919-1952. It was characterized by the increased emphasis on geological cartography as well as basic research and regional studies. Its main effects included compilation of a geological map of Poland at the scale of1:300,000 and discoveries of new mineral deposits (hematite-pyrite deposit at Rudki, phosphorites at Rachów, bituminous coal in the Lviv-Volhyn coal basin, present-day Ukraine, and the Izbica-Klodawa salt dome. The second period comprising the years 1953-1989 was a time of an immense geological work. During that period priority was given to prospecting and exploration of mineral resources at any price. This resulted in an impressive discovery of mineral deposits, such as: native sulfur, copper and silver, sedimentary and igneous iron ores, bituminous coal, lignite, oil and gas fields, as well as potassium salt, barite, fluorite, magnesite and Cu-W-Mo ores. An effect of political changes in 1989 was a change of concept regarding prospecting and exploration of mineral resources. The state resigned from development and documentation of resources, leaving this task to private companies and investors. This launched a new third period that has continued to this day. During this time, data collection and processing, and their availability to a broad range of recipients have had a fundamental role. This is consistent with the concept of building an information society. Major new lines of activity of the Polish Geological Institute include protection of the environment, especially a soil-water environment that is the traditional domain of geologists, monitoring of groundwater, soil and bottom sediments as well as solid waste management. Geological education and protection of the geological and mining heritage have also assumed a vital importance

Polish Geological Society and the Polish Geological Institute : a hundred years of symbiosis

As early as at the beginning of the 20th century, outstanding Polish geologists associated with the Academy of Arts and Sciences, operating in the Austrian Partition, developed concepts for the development of geology in independent Poland. As soon as independence became a fact, the Polish Geological Institute was established, and a little later - the Polish Geological Society. The specific goals of these institutions were different, but the overriding goal - the development of Polish geology and the geological community - was common. PGI and PGS interacted very closely with each other. PGI employees for many years played an important role in the Society's structure, including the function of the President. They initiated the establishment of regional branches, and were always scientifically active, presenting a significant percentage of scientific lectures prepared a spart of PGS activities. They were the organizers or co-organizers o fa significant part of the PGS Congresses, and in most cases of the post-war history, PGI was the publisher of the Congress Guides. The symbiosis of these two important institutions served both themselves and Polish geology as a whole

History of Uranium Research in the Polish Geological Institute

The search for uranium in Poland began after the World War II and was initially conducted by Russians who in the mid-1950s were replaced by the Polish specialists. The Polish Geological Institute also took part in this research in 1956. In the initial phase of the search, the study was focused on the area of the Sudetes. Later, the research covered the entire territory of Poland using the so-called "parallel research”, which consisted mainly in the analysis of geophysical measurements from all the boreholes performed in Poland, and then the collection of samples from the zones with anomalous radioactivity. In this way, concentrations of uranium were found in the Lower Ordovician Dictyonema Shale of the Podlasie Depression and in the Lower Triassic of the Peribaltic Syneclise. Uranium was also searched in the area of the Carpathians, the Holy Cross Mountains, hard coal deposits of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin and in brown coals and phosphates. Uranium deposits in Poland have not been found and the current concentrations are not of economic value. Research methodology, which was used for uranium prospection in the 1990s, was successfully applied in geoenvironmental study, first of all for establishing post-Chernobyl cesium contamination and for preparing a map of the radon potential of the Sudetes

Blue mining in the Atlantic Ocean : a real need or a need for realism?

In 2018, Poland was granted the right to explore for ores in the area of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge area of 10 000 km2, which is the initial stage of the Program of Geological Exploration of Oceans (PRoGeO) accepted by the Government of Poland in July 2017. On the part of decision-makers, expectations are huge in ensuring safe deliveries of a number of metals (Cu, Au, Ag, Pt, REE, Ni, Co, Zn and Mo). The authors carried out a detailed analysis of the published results of research on similar objects in the exclusive economic zones of Japan and Papua New Guinea. Comparative analysis, covering geological-economic, organizational, financial, geo-environmental aspects reveals that in the Polish zone of the MAR one can expect to find rich, but relatively small deposits of Cu, Zn, Ag, and Au, which meet the needs of a small part of domestic demand for these metals in less than 2 years. The geological and economic analysis shows that there is no risk of a collapse of the supply market for these metals. On the other hand, the risk of organizational and financial failure of the oceanic research project was defined as very large. The authors do not deny the need to conduct basic oceanic research. On the contrary, such research should be carried out even if the economic goal is very distant in time and vaguely outlined. However, the method ofpreparing and evaluating the program of such research should not differf rom the standards adoptedfor serious research grants, so it should have an original character, be prepared by leading research centers in a given field and be thoroughly evaluated by independent experts. Then a wide discussion will be possible in the scientific community regarding the purposefulness, scope and costs of the work

One hundred years of the Polish Geological Institute : an outline of the material history

Established a few months after regaining independence in 1918, the Polish Geological Institute was carrying out research aimed at ensuring the supply of necessary mineral raw resources to the domestic industry. The director of the Institute, Prof. J. Morozewicz as well as the state authorities were aware of the fact that for the proper functioning of the Institute suitable headquarter was needed. Therefore, already in the mid-1919, the appropriate area and financial resources were allocated for the construction of large buildings, the designer of which S W0łk0wicZ T M Pervt was Prof. M. Lalewicz. The laboratory pavilion was opened in 1926. The main building, which was put into use in 1936 and rebuilt after the destruction during World War II, has been the pride of the Institute until today. The extension of the state and a wide range of research issues meant that already in 1921, it was necessary to establish the Upper Silesian Station in Dąbrowa Górnicza, whose activity was focused on the coal geology. The Geological Station in Borysław, operating in the structure of the PGI since 1920, was transformed three years later into the Oil and Salt Department of the PGI, which closely co-operated with the Carpathian oil industry. The Holy Cross Mountain research group was located during 1937-1955 in the family home of Jan Czarnocki. After World War II, due to the significant intensification of geological research and exploration in Poland, new regional divisions of the Institute were established that currently have their headquarters in Kraków, Sosnowiec, Wrocław, Kielce, Gdańsk and Szczecin; all have the rank of branches. The organizational structure of the PGI is of an extremely regional nature, and the research issues of individual branches are mostly related to the recognition of the geological structure and mineral resources occurring in a given region. In addition, the Polish Geological Institute possesses 8 core repositories

Critical Minerals from Post-Processing Tailing. A Case Study from Bangka Island, Indonesia

The growing demand for critical raw materials (rare earth elements—REE, Nb, Ta, and others) enforces a need to look for their alternative sources. Distortions of the mineral supply chain caused by COVID-19 have necessitated a re-evaluation of what exists as mining waste from previous exploitation. Consequently, this study aims to provide an inventory of raw materials on the Indonesian Tin Islands (Bangka and Belitung). Geological and mineralogical examinations on Bangka have permitted an economic appraisal of tailings from the processing of cassiterite-bearing sands and confirmed the presence of REE-bearing minerals, chiefly monazite and xenotime, zircon, ilmenite, rutile, niobium-tantalum phases. In general, the mineral content of the tailings varies depending on the sampling site and the type of processing used during ore-production. ICP-MS (inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometers) analyses revealed anomalous concentrations of LREE (light rare earth elements): La > 5%, Ce > 5%, Pr > 1%, Nd > 1%, Sm > 1% and HREE+Y (heavy rare earth elements and yttrium) up to 2.51 wt%. High values have been found for the “most critical” metals of the HREE group: Dy (up to 0.34 wt%), Tb (up to 0.08 wt%), Eu (up to 61.8 ppm), Nd (>1.0 wt%), and Y (up to 1.20 wt%). In addition, the following contents have been defined: Ga (to 0.03 wt%); Hf (to 0.64 wt%); Ta (to 0.08 wt%); Nb (to 0.23 wt%); W (to 0.14 wt%); Zr (>5.0 wt%); and Sc (to 0.01 wt%). Such high concentrations suggest the tailing dumps to be a potential new source of “critical raw materials”

Research and exploration of zinc and lead, Mo-W-Cu, uranium, REE and gold deposits as well as marine mineral resources at the Polish Geological Institute

In the shadow of discoveries of large deposits of mineral resources in Poland after World War II, intensive exploration works were carried out, but the results of this research did not bring such spectacular effects. Exploration of Zn-Pb deposits conducted in the vicinity of historic deposits of Tarnowskie Góry and Bytom led to documentation of the Zawiercie, Goluchowice and Marciszów deposits. With some successes, exploration works of metal ore deposits in Paleozoic igneous and metamorphic rocks of the NE margin of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin were carried out. In this area, the Myszków Mo-W-Cu mineral deposit was confirmed, representing the porphyry copper genetic type. Moreover, in the area of Mrzyglód, the promising mineralization zone was found, requiring further geological research. The exploration of uranium and rare earth element ores did not lead to documentation of the deposits, nevertheless they made it possible to recognize all geological structures in Poland in terms of the possibility of occurrence of ore deposit occurrence of these metals. The prospecting works for these goals was carried out with a relatively small scale and were limited of the Sudetes, where exploitation took place on a fairly large scale in the past (Zloty Stok, Radzimowice, Klecza-Radomice, Wądroże Wielkie). The gold concentration occurring in the Zechstein Kupferschiefer formation and the porphyry copper mineralisation in NE margin of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin were also studied. The PGI participated in the exploration of mineral resources in marine areas, where besides the hydrocarbon exploration in the Polish economic zone, research on the Baltic polymetallic nodules was carried out, and within the INTEROCEANMETAL consortium the raw material potential of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the Pacific was studied

Mining Waste as a Potential Additional Source of HREE and U for the European Green Deal: A Case Study of Bangka Island (Indonesia)

The European Commission has adopted the European Green Deal strategy, which aims to achieve climate neutrality in the EU by 2050. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to shift the economy toward the use of green and renewable energy. Critical raw materials (CRMs), Li, Co, REE, Te, Sc and others, are used in renewable energy sources (RES) production. The EU lacks its own CRM deposits, and additionally, the access to already identified deposits is limited, which is making the EU countries search for alternative CRM sources. One such source of CRMs may be mining waste generated on the Indonesian island of Bangka as a result of processing cassiterite-bearing sands. Studies of the mineral composition of the waste using the XRD method reveal rich contents of xenotime (0.79–17.55 wt%), monazite (1.55–21.23 wt%), zircon (1.87–64.35 wt%) and other minerals, carriers of valuable metals, such as Sn, Ti, Nb, Ta. The point mineral chemistry analyses were performed using EPMA. Xenotime is the main carrier of heavy rare earth elements (HREE), especially the “most critical” HREEs: Gd2O3 (1.42–7.16 wt%), Dy2O3 (2.28–11.21 wt%), Er2O3 (2.44–7.85 wt%), and Yb2O3 (1.71–7.10 wt%). Xenotime is characterized by a complex internal structure resulting from metasomatic processes occurring during their formation. In SEM-BSE imaging, they show zonation of internal structure, which is the effect of an HREE, Y, Si and U substitution in the crystal structure. On the other hand, thorite ThSiO4 and uranothorite (Th,U)SiO4 inclusions are present in xenotimes. The ICP-MS/ES studies of tailings reveal very high contents of HREE + Y (up to 7.58 wt%), U (up to 0.11), Th (up to 0.75 wt%) and Sc (132 ppm). A CRM source diversification is part of the strategy to ensure the security of raw materials for countries of the European Union and the green transformation of the continent. Bilateral EU–Indonesia cooperation in the geological exploration and development of primary and secondary sources may contribute to an increase in the supply of HREEs to the global market

Mining Waste as a Potential Additional Source of HREE and U for the European Green Deal: A Case Study of Bangka Island (Indonesia)

The European Commission has adopted the European Green Deal strategy, which aims to achieve climate neutrality in the EU by 2050. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to shift the economy toward the use of green and renewable energy. Critical raw materials (CRMs), Li, Co, REE, Te, Sc and others, are used in renewable energy sources (RES) production. The EU lacks its own CRM deposits, and additionally, the access to already identified deposits is limited, which is making the EU countries search for alternative CRM sources. One such source of CRMs may be mining waste generated on the Indonesian island of Bangka as a result of processing cassiterite-bearing sands. Studies of the mineral composition of the waste using the XRD method reveal rich contents of xenotime (0.79–17.55 wt%), monazite (1.55–21.23 wt%), zircon (1.87–64.35 wt%) and other minerals, carriers of valuable metals, such as Sn, Ti, Nb, Ta. The point mineral chemistry analyses were performed using EPMA. Xenotime is the main carrier of heavy rare earth elements (HREE), especially the “most critical” HREEs: Gd2O3 (1.42–7.16 wt%), Dy2O3 (2.28–11.21 wt%), Er2O3 (2.44–7.85 wt%), and Yb2O3 (1.71–7.10 wt%). Xenotime is characterized by a complex internal structure resulting from metasomatic processes occurring during their formation. In SEM-BSE imaging, they show zonation of internal structure, which is the effect of an HREE, Y, Si and U substitution in the crystal structure. On the other hand, thorite ThSiO4 and uranothorite (Th,U)SiO4 inclusions are present in xenotimes. The ICP-MS/ES studies of tailings reveal very high contents of HREE + Y (up to 7.58 wt%), U (up to 0.11), Th (up to 0.75 wt%) and Sc (132 ppm). A CRM source diversification is part of the strategy to ensure the security of raw materials for countries of the European Union and the green transformation of the continent. Bilateral EU–Indonesia cooperation in the geological exploration and development of primary and secondary sources may contribute to an increase in the supply of HREEs to the global market