APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200070030-5
output is derived from domestic zinc-lead ores; the remainder is obtained from concentrates imported mainly from non-Communist countries, including the United States. Total output of zinc-lead ores was about 4.0 million tons in 1972. The relatively small amount of lead contained in these ores is the basis for the production of metallic lead, supplemented occasionally by small imports of lead concentrates. The traditional source of Polish zinc, the sulfide ores of the Bytom Basin, is being exhausted, and a growing share of the national output is being derived from oxide ores in the Olkusz-Chrzanow region, where a highly mechanized mine is under development at Pomorzany. About one-third of the current metal output is refined by old, horizontal retort plants, some of which were built in the last century. Although no definite schedule has been established, the retorting methods are to be replaced by modern processes. Considerably greater use is planned for the Imperial Smelting Process, which currently accounts for about one-sixth of total zinc output. The process was adopted in 1968 in a new refinery at Miasteczko Slaskie, near Katowice. Difficulties were encountered in mastering the new process, but these reportedly have been overcome. The electrolytic process, which accounts for nearly one-half of current zinc output, may also see greater use.
Domestic lead output — 65,000 tons in 1972 — covers about three-quarters of domestic consumption. The remainder is supplied by imports of metallic lead, mainly from the USSR, Yugoslavia, and the United Kingdom. Cadmium, a coproduct of zinc ore, is produced in excess of domestic requirements and is exported to other Communist countries and to the West.
Production of refined copper has increased by no less than 500% between 1960 and 1972, from 22,000 tons to 131,000 tons. Poland is the largest producer of copper among the Communist countries of Eastern Europe, and by 1975 it is expected to attain an annual output of 200,000 tons. This level of production will enable Poland to meet its domestic needs, now rising rapidly in the electrical and telecommunications sectors, and will provide a sizable export surplus. Poland's objective is to become a major world producer of copper. Polish planners already are seeking foreign financial assistance to develop an industry capable of producing up to 600,000 tons of copper annually.
The rapid growth already achieved in copper production and the potential for future expansion derive from the discovery of rich copper ore deposits in southwestern Poland in the late 1950's, which are estimated to be the seventh-largest in the world. Two major mines, financed in part by a US$125 million credit from Czechoslovakia, were opened in 1966 at Glogow and Lublin to exploit these deposits. Substantial progress also has been made in the development of a third major mine at Rudna. This project, which has been helped along by a multimillion dollar long-term credit from France, is scheduled for completion in 1974. The volume of copper ore mined in Poland in 1972 was estimated at more than 10 million tons, and the planned output for 1975 is 14.5 million tons. Smelting and refining operations are carried out at Glogow and Legnica.
Poland's production of aluminum is small by world standards and ranks second to that of Romania in Eastern Europe. Output in 1972 amounted to 102,000 tons, or enough to cover roughly two-thirds of domestic needs. Imports from the USSR made up the deficit. Although years of research have been devoted to the development of techniques to obtain aluminum from domestic clays, only limited experimental use has been made of such techniques, and Poland remains dependent on imports for its aluminum raw materials. Some bauxite is imported from Hungary and Guinea for domestic processing into alumina, but most local requirements for alumina are met by imports, principally from Hungary. A contract has been signed with Yugoslavia calling for annual deliveries to Poland of 120,000 tons of alumina over a 10-year period, beginning in 1976.
Poland has two aluminum reduction plants, each with an annual capacity of about 50,000 tons. One plant, located at Skawina, was built with Soviet assistance and was put into operation in 1954. A newer plant, employing French refining technology, was put into operation at Konin in 1966. Because of its location in a nonindustrial area, operations at the latter plant were hampered for some time by a manpower shortage — particularly of skilled technicians needed to supervise the French process. Although these problems have been overcome, Poland has not gone ahead with its initial plans to expand capacity at Konin to 100,000 tons per year, due apparently to the lack to low-cast electric power (the use of lignite, the fuel source for the required additional power, apparently would be uneconomical).
c. Nonmetallic minerals and construction materials
Poland has the third-richest deposits of native sulfur in the world. The deposits, discovered during 1953-56 at Tarnobrzeg, contain about 100 million tons of pure
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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200070030-5
