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Gold

Gold occurs in a few geological formations in Poland. The gold deposits were actively prospected and exploited at least since early Middle Ages. At present gold is extracted only from copper-silver deposits mined in area of the Fore-Sudetic Monocline. Gold occurs in sediments of the oxidized facies, mainly in rocks of the Weissliegendes Sandstone of the Rotliegend and lower parts of the Zechstein copper-bearing shales. Gold is recovered in the course of technological processing of sulfide ores. In 2012 469.3 kg of gold were recovered from Polish sulfide Cu-Ag ores and 916 kg of gold taking into account imported inputs.

The gold and arsenic mine at Złoty Stok, closed in 1960, was the last active gold mine in the Sudety Mts. Proven gold resources of the Złoty Stok deposit were estimated in 1954 at 2,000 kg in anticipated economic resources of the ore and 490 kg in the anticipated subeconomic ones. The mean content of gold is 2.8 g/t of ore. The Złoty Stok deposit was mined in the years 1954-1960 which resulted in extraction of a quarter of its resources. The resources remaining in the deposit are estimated at 537,000 tonnes of ores yielding 19,600 tonnes of arsenic and 1,500 kg of gold. The deposit has been abandoned because of a very limited demand and high toxicity of arsenic. At present the chance for reactivation of this mining operation is negligible. Gold was also extracted from hydrothermal gold-bearing quartz-sulphide veins at Radzimowice, Klecza-Radomice, Czarnów and Wądroże Wielkie. Beside, in Lower Silesia region placer gold was also subject of extraction from Cenozoic sands and gravels. The gold-bearing sediments occurred in numerous river valleys (e.g. Bóbr, Kwisa, Kaczawa, Nysa Łużycka) in the vicinities of Złotoryja, Lwówek Śląski and Bolesławiec.

Prognostic and perspective resources of gold are estimated at almost 350 tonnes(*).

Prepared by: Stanisław Z. Mikulski

(*)S. Z. Mikulski, A. Wojciechowski, S. Oszczepalski 2011 - "Rudy złota" in "Bilans perspektywicznych zasobów kopalin Polski wg stanu na 31 XII 2009 r." pod red. S. Wołkowicza, T. Smakowskiego, S. Speczika. PIG-PIB Warszawa.