Gospodarka Surowcami Mineralnymi - Mineral Resources Management

Almus agates which are forms of nodules like egg-shaped are located in the Eocene aged Almus volcanics in Tokat (Turkey). These nodules are surprise eggs in spherical or oval form ranging from a few cm to 25–30 cm. It is thought that the most effective reason for the formation of the magnificent texture and color combinations of the agates in the region is the iron element. In thin section studies, agate formations are composed of length-slow zebraic chalcedony and quart zine. In addition, curved fossil like structures composed of iron oxide minerals offer visual richness.
The host rock in which the Almus agates are located is trachyte, which consists of sanidine, plagioclase microlites and small opaque minerals, in which microlithic porphyritic and flow (trachytic) texture are observed. As a result of the multipoint eds (field emission scanning electron microscope), it was determined that the quartz is composed of Si, O and Fe. The content of the iron element, which is thought to cause color, was observed in the range of ca 1–1.5 wt.%. According to XRF analysis results, in Almus agates, there is depletion of Fe2O3 content in fine crystalline regions (ca 1 wt.%) compared to coarse crystalline zones (ca 1.5 wt.%).
In order to determine the usability of Almus agates as gemstone, various cabochon shapes were made in Ümit Ulus Gemstone Processing workshop. It has been observed that these agates can be used for both collection and gemstone purposes due to their unique patterns and color compensation.

Pyrite is a sulfide mineral and is widely distributed in nature. Pyrite may transform into pyrrhotite when heated at high temperatures. In order to support processing engineering techniques and industrial applications of pyrite and pyrrhotite, it is necessary to investigate synthetic pyrrhotite, which is formed by heating pyrite in air, based on existing research. In this work, the mineralogical characteristics and stability conditions of synthetic pyrrhotite formed by heating pyrite at elevated temperatures were studied. The possible formation pathway was verified using a solid-phase reaction. X-ray-diffraction results revealed that synthetic pyrrhotite differs from natural pyrrhotite in the paragenetic association of minerals. Natural pyrrhotite and magnetite coexist in the natural pyrrhotite sample. Synthetic pyrrhotite formed by heating pyrite at 700℃ for 1 h has the paragenetic association with hematite and a small amount of pyrite and magnetite. All pyrrhotite samples were monoclinic pyrrhotite-4C (Fe7S8) and exhibit minimal differences in terms of lattice parameters. Synthetic pyrrhotite-4C was stable under 0.5–2 h of heating at 700℃ in air. It had the highest relative content by heating for 1 h. It was eventually transformed into hematite with heating periods exceeding 3 h, as was the case for pyrite and magnetite. In air, synthetic pyrrhotite-4C is mainly formed via two pathways: (1) pyrite → pyrrhotite-4C and (2) pyrite → magnetite → pyrrhotite-4C. Pathway (1) is more favorable than pathway (2). This transformation cannot be achieved by the reaction between hematite and sulfur.

The paper presents the analysis of IT tools selection to develop a system of deposits geological modelling as well as production designing and scheduling in a hard coal mine. The presented concept creates a subject-matter foundation of the solution supporting the decision making system in the field of production activities performance, with the use of IT solutions and monitoring of end product quality, implemented under the paradigm of so-called Intelligent Mine.
A technological dialogue carried out by questionnaire surveys, supported with experts’ opinions, was applied to select the software for designing a system of deposit modelling, and for designing and scheduling of mining operations. Questionnaires originated based on presentations, covering the functionality in the field of geological data gathering, developing a geological spatial model of a bedded deposit, as well as designing and scheduling. The presented solutions were next evaluated, via questionnaires, by the employees of the company. In addition, 4 groups of criteria were prepared: technical (questionnaires), technical (experts), business, and IT, based on which the final evaluation was carried out. Ultimately, Solution 2 was selected as that, which to the highest degree satisfied technical, business, and IT requirements of the planned system.
The indicated IT solution was implemented and became one of basic tools for modelling hard coal deposits, an also for designing and scheduling of the mining operations in the company.

Trace elements contained in rocks, especially those classified as potentially toxic elements (PTEs), can be largely harmful. Knowledge of the geochemical composition of waste is of great importance due to the potential possibility of contamination with these elements in the environment. The paper presents the geochemical characteristics of the sedimentary rocks from the Carboniferous coal-bearing series of the USCB. The present study used data for 120 samples from borehole WSx representing Zaleskie layers and Orzeskie layers within the Mudstone Series (Westphalian A, B). Major oxide concentrations (Al2O3, SiO2, Fe2O3, P2O5, K2O, MgO, CaO, Na2O, K2O, MnO, TiO2, Cr2O3, Ba) were obtained using an X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. The concentration of potentially toxic elements (Be, Sc, V, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Rb, Sr, Zr, Mo, Cd, Sn, Sb, Ba, W, Tl, Pb, Bi, Th, and U) was analyzed using inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry. As there are no relevant standards for the content of toxic elements in post-mining waste stored in dumps, the concentrations of elements were compared to their share in the Upper Continental Crust. Most elements, such as B, Sc, V, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Sb, W, Tl, Pb, Bi, Th, and U had higher mean concentrations than those of the Upper Continental Crust (UC). Concentrations of the analyzed toxic elements in the studied samples did not exceed permissible values for soils, therefore they are not a potential threat to the environment. The results of the Pearson correlation analysis showed differing relationships among the analyzed toxic elements in the studied samples.

This paper presents data on the management of dimension stones in Poland in the period 2011– –2021. The domestic production of rocks suitable for the production of slabs, pitcher and curbs, etc. is estimated and the major varieties of rocks utilized for these purposes are indicated. Data on raw and processed products with regard to imports and exports are presented for crude and roughly worked blocks and slabs, worked dimension stones as well as pitcher, curbs and other road stones. In the first two groups, data is reported separately for:
- marbles, limestones and other carbonate rocks,
- granites,
- sandstones (distinguished as separate category in crude blocks and slabs group),
- other rocks.
Data on the volume of production, imports and exports is utilized for the calculation of the apparent consumption of dimension stone in Poland. The conducted analyses revealed that its volume has been ranging from 1.4 to 1.9 million tons/year in 2013–2021 with the exception of the years 2011–2012 when it reached ca. 2.7 million tons/year. The most important group of rocks utilized in Poland as dimension stones are granites. These originated primarily from domestic deposits but they are also imported from various directions, primarily from the Republic of South Africa and India (crude blocks and slabs), China (worked dimension stones) as well as from Sweden and Norway in 2011–2012 (significant amounts of hydrotechnical stones). A nother significant group of rocks utilized in Poland as dimension stones are sandstones (with a share of imports in total domestic consumption not exceeding 1%) while marbles, limestones and other carbonate rocks are of marginal importance (primarily imported in the form of worked dimension stones from China, the Czech Republic, Italy and Turkey).

In order to explore the impact of coal and gangue particle size changes on recognition accuracy and to improve the single particle size of coal and gangue identification accuracy of sorting equipment, this study established a database of different particle sizes of coal and gangue through image gray and texture feature extraction, using a relief feature selection algorithm to compare different particle size of coal and gangue optimal features of the combination, and to identify the points and particle size of coal and gangue. The results show that the optimal features and number of coal and gangue are different with different particle sizes. Based on visible-light coal and gangue separation technology, the change of coal and gangue particle size cause fluctuations in the recognition accuracy, and the fluctuation of recognition accuracy will gradually decrease with increases in the number of features. In the process of particle size classification, if the training model has a single particle size range, the recognition accuracy of each particle size range is low, with the highest recognition accuracy being 98% and the average recognition rate being only 97.2%. The method proposed in this paper can effectively improve the recognition accuracy of each particle size range. The maximum recognition accuracy is 100%, the maximum increase is 4%, and the average recognition accuracy is 99.2%. Therefore, this method has a high practical application value for the separation of coal and gangue with single particle size.

In order to achieve accurate identification and segmentation of ore under complex working conditions, machine vision and neural network technology are used to carry out intelligent detection research on ore, an improved Mask RCNN instance segmentation algorithm is proposed. Aiming at the problem of misidentification of stacked ores caused by the loss of deep feature details during the feature extraction process of ore images, an improved Multipath Feature Pyramid Network (MFPN) was proposed. The network firstly adds a single bottom-up feature fusion path, and then adds with the top-down feature fusion path of the original algorithm, which can enrich the deep feature details and strengthen the fusion of the network to the feature layer, and improve the accuracy of the network to the ore recognition. The experimental results show that the algorithm proposed in this paper has a recognition accuracy of 96.5% for ore under complex working conditions, and the recall rate and recall rate function values reach 97.4% and 97.0% respectively, and the AP75 value is 6.84% higher than the original algorithm. The detection results of the ore in the actual scene show that the mask size segmented by the network is close to the actual size of the ore, indicating that the improved network model proposed in this paper has achieved a good performance in the detection of ore under different illumination, pose and background. Therefore, the method proposed in this paper has a good application prospect for stacked ore identification under complex working conditions.

Mineral-resource mining is a pillar of many state economies and, in many cases, it determines the welfare of the society. The mining of mineral resources provides the market with the raw materials that are traded and drives the economic and social development of countries, although it can also be a source of tensions and crises (e.g. the “curse of wealth”, “Dutch disease”). The trade of raw materials is conducted by exchanges, bilateral deals and other forms of transactions, and is regulated by trade regulations and contract agreements, and in most cases, constitutes a source of income for exporters. In this paper, the use of game-theory modelling for creating the selling price of mineral products on the basis of Polish export quotas for refined copper raw materials is proposed. Using a characteristic function created on the basis of reported export values, possible cooperation arrangements are defined and solutions are calculated for an n-person game of hypothetical coalitions of the major (in terms of volume) recipients of refined Polish copper, i.e. Germany, Italy and France. Alternative markets and possible supplies of cheaper raw material are excluded from the analyses, while the price spread between the rates paid by the buyers is taken into consideration. Among the many possibilities, the game core, the Shapley imputation and the Gately point are arbitrarily adopted as permissible solutions to the defined system. The obtained results are used for a speculative analysis relating to the possibility of renegotiating prices between the producer and recipients of the raw material. Marginal contributions resulting from Shapley’s solution are taken into account as is the power of individual trading-participant coalitions. The paper demonstrates that the recognition and adoption of solutions based on the n-personnel game model as impartial would require the redefinition of contracts and the rates paid for the raw material.

The issues covered by the work are important and topical as sinkholes that develop in large numbers over shallow mining excavations pose a great threat to public safety. In Upper Silesia (Poland), the formation of sinkholes can be observed even for a period of over 100 years following the termination of mining works. An effective method of risk elimination consists of filling the voids with a binding material with strength properties similar to those of the rocks surrounding the void. The application of fly ash is very suitable for this purpose, the use of which also has an ecological aspect. The literature studies presented in the paper indicate the possibility of making mixtures with the use of fly ash that has the required strength parameters. The compressive strength of the mixtures after solidification is up to 3 MPa, or even up to 7 MPa, and in some cases, up to 15 MPa. Most of the voids at shallow depths are found in coal seams, in which the compressive strength at shallow depths amounts to approx. 5 MPa. Thus, by filling the void with such material, we can ensure conditions similar to those prevailing before the excavation was made. The paper presents a case study involving the formation of a sinkhole above a dog heading and an ex post forecast made with the use of two selected methods. These methods yielded results affirming that the development of a sinkhole in the considered conditions is certain. Then, using the said methods, the impact of the filling level of the void on the possibility of sinkhole development was analyzed. The obtained results indicated the necessity to fill the void to around 90% with the use of one of the methods and its complete filling with the use of the other method.

The aim of the presented work was an attempt to verify the geothermal conditions in the Polish Lowlands (Lower Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous reservoir) based on new geological information. The paper presents geothermal conditions in the Polish Lowlands according to the state of recognition at the end of 2022 in order to update the hydrogeothermal conditions in selected regions. Based on the scientific and research works published so far as well as numerous geothermal investments, and geological information from twenty-three new exploratory drilling events performed in the years 2000–2022 (nineteen of which were performed/documented after 2006), the authors undertook to update forecasts of the top surface of Lower Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous formations, the total thickness of these formations and the potential discharge of wells. The analysis was performed using the QGIS Desktop 3.24.1 software, a cross-platform and free open-source geoinformation software application (GIS ) that enables the viewing, editing and analyzing of spatial data and the creation of maps. The correction covered the course of the isolines on all six analyzed maps. The presented analysis made it possible to make a spot correction of the forecasted course of the isoline in relation to the maps published earlier in the Atlas of geothermal resources in the Polish Lowlands. Mesozoic formations developed in 2006, edited by Wojciech Górecki. Information obtained from newly drilled geothermal boreholes enabled the local correction of the forecasted values of individual parameters while maintaining the general trend.

Green mine construction is the main melody of mining development and problems such as safe production, energy saving and consumption reduction need to be solved urgently. The working conditions of the mill are complex in the process of grinding. Aiming at the problems existing in the feature extraction and load prediction of the mill, a signal-processing method based on adaptive chirp mode decomposition (ACMD) and a standardized variable distance classifier (SVD) is proposed. Firstly, the recursive framework of the ACMD method is used to obtain the initial frequency of mill vibration signals. Secondly, the initial frequency is used to reconstruct the high-resolution component of the mill vibration signal through the iterative frame in the ACMD method. The frequency corresponding to the frequency domain peak of the reconstructed signal is then selected as the mill load feature vector. Finally, with consideration to the influence of standard deviation and standardized variable factors on the feature vectors, a standardized variable distance classifier is proposed. The feature vectors of the mill load are input into the SVD model for training, and the state types of the mill load are obtained. The method is applied to the grinding experiment and the results show that the frequency-domain features obtained by the mill vibration signal-processing method based on ACMD-SVD are obvious, which has high accuracy in the identification of mill load types, and provides a new idea for the extraction of mill load features and prediction of the mill load.