Krzysztof Zieliński

W artykule przedstawiono wyniki prac badawczych uzyskane podczas poszukiwań złóż miedzi i srebra na południowym obrzeżeniu wyniesienia Wolsztyn–Pogorzela pod kątem rozpoznania regionalnej budowy geologicznej utworów permsko-mezozoicznych, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem stref tektonicznych. Omówiono nową metodykę opracowania danych sejsmicznych i grawimetrycznych w postaci sekcji efektywnych współczynników odbicia EWO i pionowych przekrojów grawimetrycznych, które w powiązaniu z geofizyką otworową dały możliwość uściślenia lub rozpoznania regionalnych stref tektonicznych, których nie ma na opracowanych dotychczas mapach podłoża podczechstyńskiego. Metodykę omówiono na przykładzie dwóch stref tektonicznych: rowu Rawicza i Oleśnicy. Przetworzenie sekcji sejsmicznych w przekroje EWO umożliwiło śledzenie warstw o mniejszej miąższości oraz ułatwiło rozpoznanie małoamplitudowych dyslokacji. Pionowe przekroje grawimetryczne pozwalają uwiarygodnić wyinterpretowane uskoki, rowy oraz pokazują czy uskoki są głęboko zakorzenione. Tak opracowane archiwalne materiały geofizyczne są istotnym uzupełnieniem rozpoznania budowy geologicznej basenu Dolnośląskiego, a w szczególności stref tektonicznych, które mogą być drogami migracji, krążenia roztworów i stref generacji kopalin. Zebrane materiały mogą zostać wykorzystane do uzupełnienie map strukturalno-tektonicznych podłoża cechsztynu w basenie Dolnośląskim a zastosowana metodyka i analiza danych może być zastosowana w innych regionach Polski.

The discovery of the Northern Copper Belt in SW Poland is a result of an extensive exploration project with a key role played by various science-related methods. The project relied on mapping the distribution of mineral zones in the entire Fore-Sudetic Monocline, a unit known for its occurrences of Cu-Ag orebodies. This approach involved the examination of historical drill cores from over 400 oil and gas holes in this area, with the collection of samples for laboratory analyses. A close relationship was confirmed between the distribution of orebodies and the transformation of organic matter. Rock-Eval pyrolysis was also performed on selected samples. The tests of rock specimens were accompanied by the reprocessing of historical gravimetric and seismic surveying results. Field magnetotelluric surveying was also performed in certain areas. This phase resulted in the identification of areas with a high probability of finding the best ore, allowing for the initiation of the drilling stage. So far, 37 exploratory boreholes have been drilled in those locations, nearly all of them with highly positive results. The Northern Copper Belt consists of three deposits, Nowa Sól, Mozów, and Sulmierzyce North, along with numerous prognostic areas distributed therebetween. The future production of copper, silver, and the accompanying valuable elements presents a chance to provide the whole of Europe with a new plentiful supply of those critical raw materials.

The Northern Copper Belt is located in south-western Poland, a region well known for its copper and silver occurrences of varying significance. This area also includes the abandoned mines of the North-Sudetic Trough (Old Copper District), as well as the currently active New Copper District in the southern part of the Fore- Sudetic Monocline. The vast exploration programme of Miedzi Copper Corp. initiated in 2011 in the northern, deeper part of the Fore Sudetic Monocline provided new data about the deeper parts of this geological unit, located north of the known deposits. A number of prospective areas with Cu-Ag mineralization were investigated, which ultimately resulted in the discovery of three new Cu-Ag deposits. Both the prospective areas and the documented deposits form the so-called Northern Copper Belt, which as a whole has high potential for the identification of new ore deposits and an increase in resources. A description of these three new deposits is provided along with characteristics of the areas of their possible extension, and the additional prospective areas with hypothetical and speculative resources. The new deposits are compared to other Polish Cu-Ag ore deposits, with an emphasis on differences in their geological structure and mineralogy. The paper also presents a brief summary of the applied new exploration tools which have led to this discovery.

Cloud-based computational environments can offer elastic and flexible services to wide audiences. Małopolska Educational Cloud was originally developed to support the day-to-day collaboration of geographically scattered schools with universities which organized online classes, led by university teachers, as an amendment to face-to-face teaching. Due to the centralized management and ubiquitous access, both the set of services provided by MEC and their usage patterns can be adjusted rapidly. In this paper we show how – during the COVID-19 pandemic – the flexibility of Małopolska Educational Cloud was leveraged to speed up the transition from in-class to remote teaching, both in the classes and schools which were already involved in the MEC project, and newly added ones. We also discuss the actions that were required to support the smooth transition and draw conclusions for the future.

The protection of copper and silver ore resources in the Polish Lubuskie Province requires certain steps to be taken, the suggestions for which are presented in this article. It addresses both known and newly discovered ore deposits, as well as prospective areas and places of ongoing exploration, which throughout the paper are collectively recognized as potential Cu-Ag mining areas. The example of Lubuskie Province was chosen as an exceptional region with multiple known areas of copper and silver ore potential, but no active mining operations until now. The study focuses on the nature and location of all potential mining areas in Lubuskie Province, and subsequently suggests the means of their protection which can be implemented today, as well as in the future. Such means should be introduced by way of new or amended legal regulations. Certain major changes to Polish law are necessary to provide sufficient protection of both currently known, as well as possible future deposits, against such use of land which would prevent the extraction of their resources. The study shows that the legal regulations effective in Poland today are insufficient or too vague, as they do not include any provisions concerning prospective resources, as well as areas of active mineral exploration, instead focusing solely on officially registered mineral deposits. Therefore, the proposals of new solutions providing better protection of all potential Cu-Ag mining areas are presented in this article.

This paper presents a new instrument in geological exploration, which uses historical geophysical data for the indication of potential zones of the occurrence of Cu-Ag ore, based on the example of the newly discovered Nowa Sól deposit in south-western Poland. Basic historical seismic and gravimetric data were applied along with transformed maps. The new method of effective reflection coefficients (ERC) allowed the utilization of archival seismic records for a more precise determination of the most vaguely traced interfaces within the Permian Zechstein unit. Compared to an amplitude-based seismic section, an ERC section is characterized by its highly increased resolution of imaging. The tracing of changes in the facies and the tectonics of Zechstein sediments, particularly in a zone of their contact with Rotliegend rocks, along with the new ERC method, enabled the establishing of precise locations of prospecting boreholes. The combined use of ERC and historical well logs also allowed more precise identification of the shape of oxidized areas and the adjacent orebodies.

Polish sediment-hosted stratiform copper deposits associated with Zechstein sediments are one of the country’s most valuable natural resources and the basis for its copper industry. The paper presents the history of their research and current exploration. Although documented deposits and their identified resources are described and characterized, much attention is paid to areas located outside of them, including those where geological exploration is currently underway. The gradual depletion of shallow Cu–Ag reserves in the Lubin-Sieroszowice district and elsewhere in the world requires exploration for deeper-seated deposits. To expand resources, time span and scale of copper production in Poland, exploration and definition of new prospects is of great importance. Thirty-five prospective areas with hypothetical and speculative resources have been delineated in SW Poland, including the most prospective areas adjacent to the Cu–Ag Lubin-Sieroszowice deposit. The paper also focuses on those parts of the Fore-Sudetic Monocline where new copper deposits were recently identified. Their resources are described along with the methodology of establishing their boundaries, which differs from recommended Polish threshold parameters not taking into account the depths exceeding 1500 m. Intelligent modern mining and ore processing technologies are considered as a prerequisite for future profitable development of deposits at deeper levels.