Criteria for Geo-Environmental Evaluation of Prospective Areas of Mineral Deposit Occurrence

Abstract

Abstract In this work, we present the problem of geo-environmental assessment of prospective areas of mineral deposits occurrence in Poland. T he issue is discussed mainly based on data from the database of Geo-environmental map of Poland, scale 1:50 000 (MGśP II). While for proven deposits a classification based on environmental conditions has been used for many years, for prospective areas of mineral occurrence such an assessment is not conducted. Taking into consideration not only protection of the natural environment, but also protection of mineral resources in Poland, it is necessary to review the approach to areas with prospective mineral resources from the point of view of their role in land use planning. Such prospective areas have - depending on the type of mineral in question, how large an area has been prospected, its geological structure - highly diverse surface area, from just a few to thousands of hectares. T his means the approach to environmental assessments of prospective areas of mineral occurrence must be different from that for already proven locations of mineral resources. The article presents quantitative characteristics of prospective areas of mineral occurrence presented on the aforementioned MGśP II map for Poland. We propose herein criteria for environmental evaluation of such prospective areas, differentiating them mainly depending on the type of mineral, manner of exploitation, surface area and land use legal forms, as well as possibility of future reclamation.