Amber
The amber ascertained in Poland occurs in the Paleogene and Quaternary formations. The biggest accumulations of amber in the Paleogene sediments are connected with the northern marginal zone of the Eocene Sea. In the northern zone amber has agglomerated in the sandy-silty sediments with glauconite in the Eridan river delta (the so-called chłapowsko-sambijska delta). The best documented is Chłapowo region where sediments occur on the depth between 60 m and 130 m. In the southern zone of the Eocene Sea the amber-bearing sediments (silts and sands with glauconite) were also formed in the delta zone, the so-called Parczew delta. These sediments occur on the depth between 20 m and 30 m. Górka Lubartowska deposit covers the area of 295.88 ha and the average thickness of sediments is of 12 m. The third amber occurrence in the Paleogene sediments is Możdżanowo region near Ustka in northern Poland. The amber-bearing sediments with the average thickness of 1.98 m occur on the depth about 11 m below the surface.
Quaternary amber-bearing sediments are occurring mainly in the chłapowsko-sambijska delta. These sediments have been accumulated by the glacier and post-glacier rivers. Big amber concentrations are also encountered (in fossil sediments and on recent beaches) on the Baltic beaches from Kołobrzeg to the eastern border of Poland.
Anticipated economic resources as of 31.12.2017 increased by 21.16 tonnes (1.9%) in comparison with 2016 and amounted to 1,160.11 tonnes of amber. It was caused by the documentation of amber as the co-occurring raw material with sands and glauconitic silts in 2 deposits in Lubartowski County: Górka Lubartowska-Niedźwiada (98.00 tonnes) and Leszkowice 1 (4.40 tonnes). These 2 deposits partially cover the area of already documented Górka Lubartowska deposit. In both of them the crumbs of amber occur accessorily in the Eocene glauconitic series (the so-called Siemień formation), formed as corbeau, fine-grained quartzic-glauconitic sands with silty-clayey layers. The glauconitic horizon is about 5-7 m thick and occur at the depth of about 11-21 m.
In 2017, there was only one deposit with exploitation concession issued – Przeróbka SL, but there was not output from the deposit carried out and the concession was extinguished at the end of the year. During the exploitation of a natural aggregates deposit Zatoka Koszalińska II on the Baltic Sea there were about 200 kilograms of amber exploited (as the co-occurring raw material).
According to the information collected by PGI-NRI from Marshals of 4 Voivodeships (Lubelskie, Pomorskie, Warmińsko-Mazurskie and Zachodniopomorskie), there were 1,019.86 kilograms of amber exploited during geological works in Pomorskie Voivodeship.
Moreover, there were 8 geological works projects for searching and exploring of amber deposits valid in Lubelskie Voivodeship in the area of Babianka, Brzeźnica Książęca, Brzeźnica Leśna Kolonia, Działyń, Juliopol, Leszkowice, Niedźwiada, Zabiele and Żminna, whereas 5 new projects were accepted in Zachodniopomorskie Voivodeship (in the area of Babigoszcz, Budzieszewice, Rarwino and Szumiąca) and 2 projects were still valid (in the area of Stawno and Rarwino).
In Pomorskie Voivodeship there were 20 new geological works projects for searching and exploring of amber deposits approved in the area of: Bogatka, Gdańsk, Gołębiewko, Lublewo, Łebień, Możdżanowo, Przejazdwo, Roszczyce, Skowarcze, Stegna, Sztutowo, Trzcinska, Wiślinka and Wytowno.
Taking these information into account it can be said that the geopotential of amber deposits in Poland is highly accessed by the investors which has been proved by 25 new geological works projects approved in 2017 for searching of amber deposits.
At the same time, according to the information gained from the Department for Combating Economic Crime of the Ministry of Finance, 6,245.865 kilograms of amber were confiscate on the Polish borders by the National Revenue Administration in 2017. The total amount of amber sold during the auctions organized by the National Revenue Administration amounted to 689.139 kilograms in 2017.
The amount of amber collected on the Baltic beaches is estimated at 5-6 tonnes per year.
Table 1 shows the current state of identification and management of resources of amber in Poland.
Prepared by: Krzysztof Szamałek
Table 1. Amber - tonnes