NATURAL RESOURCES OF THE REGAINED TERRITORIES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600310765-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 15, 2011
• Sequence Number: 765
• Publication Date: June 7, 1950
• Content Type: REPORT

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1 , CLASSIFICATION CONFIDENTIAL ~pNFIDENTIAt
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPORI
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS CD N0.
HOW
PUBLISHED
WHERE
PUBLISHED Frankfurt/Main
DATE
PUBLISHED 26 Feb - 19 Mar 1950
LANGUAGE Polish
TNIS OOCVM[NT CONTAINS IN lORYATION Ai1[CTINO TN[ NATIONAL DLlLMS[
OR TNC UNIT[0 STAT[S RITNIN iN[ Y[A NINO OF LS RIO NAG[ ACT SO
U. S. C.. ]I AND S[. AS AM[MS[D. ITS TRANSYIS SIGN OR THE RLY[LATION
Oi ITS CONT[Nf! IN AMT YANNCR TO AN UN AV TN ORII [D R[RSON IS IRO?
NI ^IT[D BT IA W. R[RRO DU CTION Oi TNIf SORY IS PRO NI CITL O.
SATE OF
INFORMATION 1950
~.
DATE DIST. 7 Jun 1950
N0. OF' PAGES 5
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT N0.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
Wiadomosci Polskie, No 9, 11; 25 Feb, 19 Mar 1950.
The lowlands of Gdansk and Malbork are among the most fertile lands is
Poland. The highest yield from one hectare of land reaches 332 quintals of
wheat, 342 quintals of barley, 300 quintals of sugar beets, and 400 quintals
of fodder beets.
Forests are one of the biggest natural resources in the Regained Terri-
tories. On lands lying south of the Bug and the San rivers, average prewar
forestation was only 19 percent; during the German occupation it fell below
17 percent. For Slask, it reaches 27 percent, Ziemia Lubuska over 40 percent,
and Pomorze Zachodnie 26 percent. In the territory formerly called East
Prussia, forestation amounts to only 18 percent because of the large number of
lakes located within the territory.
Forests located in the Regained Territories comprise 40 percent of the
total forest area in Poland. In the Regained Territories forests were not
devastated by the war like those located in central and southern Poland. The
larger part of the trees located in the Sudetens are spruce which are needed
for Poland's chemical industry. Beech trees, .necessary to the bent-wood furni-
ture industry, are the predominating trees in forests located in Ziemia Lubuska
and Pomorze Zachodnie. In former East Prussia and in parts of the Pomorze Za-
chodnie, alder trees are predominant. These trees are used by the plywood and
veneer industry. Oak and birch trees are Pound in all forests. Pine trees are
abundant in all forests; however, the Taborski pine forests and Jansborski
forests are outstanding and world famous.
T'he most valuable of the natural resources in the Regained Territories are
the minerals. Pomorze Zachodnie and East Prussia are covered with thick dilu-
vial strata poor in minerals. Only peat, brick clay, small amounts of amber,
gravel, and deposits of chalk and limestone are found here. In Pomorze, there
are deep deposits of rock salt which-may mean that petroleum deposits are lo-
cated in this area.
.CLASSIFICATION CONFIDENTIAL `~0" ~~D~~~~~~
NSRS GISTRIBUTION . T
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GONFID~~T~A~
Black coal is the principal natural resource of the Regained Territories.
There are two coal basins in this area: (1) in the western part of Gorny
Slask, between Bytom, Zabrze, and Gliwice, and (2) in Dolny Slask, in the min-
ing zone of Walbrzych, on the Czechoslovak border.
The first of these two coal basins is part of the larger Gorny Slask min-
ing area, and contains at least 10 billion tons of coal over an area of 570
square kilometers. The deposits are not too deep underground and the seams
are thicker than those of the Donets and Western Europe. Coal seams are 2
meters thick on the average, but there are places where they exceed 8 meters.
This permits the use of modern excavation and loading machinery. The quality
of the coal extracted is among the best obtainable in Poland and Europe. It
is less friable, burns with a high flame, and leaves little ash. It is better
for coking than coal from former Polish coal fields.
The coal deposits of Dolny Slaek are located along the Czechoslovak border
in the Suc'etens from Kamienna Gora across Walbrzych up to Nowa Ruda near Klodzk.
They contain only 1,300,000,000 tons of coal. Mining conditions are very poor.
The coal deposits are thin, interrupted by volcanic rocks, irregularly layed
out. Because the coal deposits are so thin, igneous rock has to be extracted
together with the coal and separated at the surface. In addition, expensive
measures must be taken against frequent explosions caused by gas and coal dust,
and against sudden inundation by xater,
A further serious handicap is represented by the distances separating the
Dolny Slask coal mines from great transportation routes. The nearest port on
the Odra River is 80 kilometers away, These coal mines would have been closed
down a long time ago, except for the high grade of the gas coal, producing
metallurgical coke of unsurpassed quality.
The productive capacity of the Dolny Slask basin is about 6 million tons
annually, whereas the mines of the regained part of Gorny Slask, once they are
fully restored, may produce 30 million tons annually. After war damage has
been eliminated, the Slask coal mines will produce 90 million tons of coal an-
nually.
The possession of the large coal mines of the Regained Territories has
raised Poland to the rank of one of the greatest coal-exporting countries. In
the future, because of the great changes in the world economy, Poland may ex-
port liquid fuel derived from coal instead of coal itself. The rapidly dwind-
ling oil resources in the USA and increasing motor traffic means that the re.
placement of petroleum fuel with synthetic liquid fuels in the USA alone woul~,
consume 500 million tons of coal annually. Hence, the synthetic gasoline in- ~
dustry in Poland may have great chances of success, but this will require
enormous investments.
In addition to black coal, there are deposits of brown coal in the Regained
Territories estimated at 10 billion tons. The largest coal deposits for easy
extraction are in Dolny Slask between Nisa Luzycka and Bobr. The coal deposits
of the border city of Zytawa, Zgorzelec, to the north along the right bank of
the Nisa River across Piensk, przewoz, Cybalin, Trebuta, and Zasieka, beyond
Gubin, are 1-50 meters deep. In some places the seams are 20 meters thick, and
near Zytawa up to 60 meters thick. The latter have been intensively exploited
for over 100 years.
Forty percent of the brown-coal extraction in a number of mines is obtained
by strip mining. The Turow mine alone near Zytawa accounts for over 60 percent
of the total brown-coal extraction, with production of nearly 3 million tons an-
nually.
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CONFIDEHTIAi.
In Ziemia Lubuska, the brown-coal deposits stretch from Nowa Sol across
Zielona Gora, Sulechow, Swiebodzin, Sulecin, and up to the lower course of the
Warta River to Skwierzyna and Kostrzyn. These coal deposits are much thinner,
deeper, but regularly laid out. The coal is of good quality and can be used
by local industries in the natural state after drying.
North of the Warta and Notec rivers the brown-coal deposits are deep, be-
neath the strata of the postglacial period. They are of a low quality and of
little use for industrial purposes.
Since natural brown coal contains 40-50 percent water, it is tao expensive
to transport. Without proper bricquetting it can be used only in the immediate
vicinity of the mine. Consequently, raw brown coal has been used mostly to
produce low-cost electric current. It has served to electrify the greatest
part of the Regained Territories. It is being used in glassworks,~brickyards,
porcelain factories, paper mills, distilleries, sugar plants, etc.
According to the Central Statistical Office, 7,594,034 tons of brown coal
were extracted in 1937 in the area encompassed by the Regained Territories,
which indicates the great importance of brown coal in the economic development
of the area.
Peat can play an important role in the economic life of the Regained Terri-
tories since it is found in areas containing neither coal nor any other source
of energy. Large peat bogs in the eastern part of Zatoka Szczecinska, around
Kolobrzeg, and in former East Prussia (largest deposits) contain hundreds of
millions of tons of peat unsurpassed in quality. Up to now, peat has been ex-
ploited mainly for domestic fuel or stable litter for cattle and partly as in-
sulation material for the building industry. Pojezierze Mazurskie has the most
favorable conditions for large-scale processing of peat since it could be ex-
tracted simultaneously with meadow lime, the latter being a good fertilizer and
building material. peat could be shipped over the wide network of waterways and
it would have a wider sales market there than anywhere else in Poland, since
this market has poor accessibility to Dolny Slask coal. According to Engr St.
Turczynowicz, an electric power plant with a 20,000-kilowatt capacity could
operate 50-75 years on 100 million square meters of peat. There are several
peat bogs of such size in former East Prussia alone which could be used as a
basis for local electrification.
As for ores found in the Regained Territories, the most important to the
Polish economy are the zinc and lead ores. These metals are usually found to-
gether and contain an admixture of silver and cadmium. Deposits of these ores
found in Dolny Slask are very small. In Gorny Slask, particularly near Bytom,
there are two thick ore deposits containing a total of approximately 25 million
tons of rich ore. This almost doubles Poland's prewar zinc resources. prior
to the war, Poland's zinc metallurgy depended on imports from other countries.
Such imports are no longer necessary to support Poland's position as one of the
world's largest exporters of zinc. However, ore imports are economically feasi-
ble and advisable for the conservation of domestic deposits for the distant fu-
ture. The old iron-ore deposits for which Slask was renowned at one time have
long since been depleted. Layers of meadow ore Pound everywhere in Slask are
so thin that they cannot assume much importance. The same is true of the west-
ern part of pomorze. Only the former East Prussia near Niborek and Szczytno
have deposits as much as one meter thick, but, on the other hand, the distance
from ironworks in Gorny Slask presents an obstacle.
Only one larger magnetite iron-ore deposit, located in Krzyzatka, at the
foot of the Karkonoszy Mountains near the Czechoslovak border, is of practical
value.' This ore is very rich, containing up to 56 percent iron, with an average
iron content of 35 percent.. There are several deposits 2-3 meters thick. Un-
fortunately, the supply of this ore is very limited, so that even if the present
extraction were doubled to 100,000 tons per year, this would be?only,.5 percent
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of the country's planned extraction and less than 3 percent of the supply needed
by metallurgical industry, Similar rich ore is found in Jawor and Zlotoryja, but
the deposits are even smaller than in Krzyzatka,
Copper deposits have long been exhausted or abandoned in prewar Poland, like-
wise in Dolny Slask. In 1938, copper deposits were discovered in Leszczyny and
Grodziska, Zlotoryja Powi.at, with less than one percent copper content, Accord-
ing to E. krenkel, one million tons of pure copper could be obtained from these
deposits, since they are so vast. Smelting of such low-grade ore in modern metal-
lurgical plants is entirely feasible but requires highly complicated and expen-
sive equipment. If it is taken into consideration (1) that almost everywhere in
the world -- with the exception of the USSR, Rhodesia, the Belgian Congo, and
Chile -- copper deposits are becoming depleted and (2) that in the not-too-distant
future it will be necessary to exploit low-grade ore containing less than one per-
cent of pure metal, then the ore found in Dolny Slask takes on new economic im-
portance.
Even now, Poland could obtain self-sufficiency in copper, provided the re-
quirement of profitability is set aside, since profitability of a given branch
is not necessary from the standpoint of the total economy. Large-scale produc-
tion of cheap electricity from brown coal for the electrolysis of copper is en-
tirely feasible. The urgency of such a program depends of how rapidly electri-
fication and the Polish electrical and engineering industries develop, Such
development is unthinkable without copper, Copper can be imported, to be sure,
but Poland cannot afford such imports; furthermore, Poland should make every ef-
fort to exploit its own natural resources, including those of the Regained Ter-
ritories.
Among nonferrous metals, some nickel is obtained from Dolny Slask. It is
found in the Zabkowice area in Szklara, Grochow, and procana, It is also located
further south in the Klodzk area and to the north in the neighborhood of Swidnica.
Only the Szklara deposits are of industrial significance. They are low-grade
ores, averaging about one percent nickel content. In the raw state, they are un-
fit for smelting and must first be put through complicated processing to form con-
centrates of 5-27 percent metal content, During World War I, the Zabkowice metal-
lurgical plant produced 300-960 tons of metal a year from this ore. Later, se
competition from the cheaper Canadian nickel became keener, processing of this ore
was abandoned until just before World War II.
Since the Szklara nickel deposits are the only ones in Poland, they may as-
sume great economic importance, especially in the event of the cessation of ore
imports from abroad. For greater self-sufficiency, the Polish authorities acti-
vated the mine and the metallurgical plant, with a 1948 planned production of
about 400 tons of nickel.
Magnesite is an exceptionally important raw material for Poland. Electroly-
tic magnesium, being one of the lightest metals, is capable of very wide applica-
tion. Magnesite, roasted at 1,500-1,700 degrees centigrade, yields unsurpassed
refractory material used for lining blast furnaces, etc. In Poland, it is to be
found exclusively in Doltty Slask at the foot of the Sobotka Mountain and near
Sabkowice in Grochow, Kojancin, Tarnow, and Tapadlo. prewar magnesite mining was
well developed, yielding about 40,000 tons annually. This is far more than Poland's
domestic requirements and permits considerable exports abroad.
The Dolny Slask deposits of arsenic ore in Rowno are likewise the only ones
in Poland. The arsenic content averages about 7 percent, with 3-5 grams of gold
per ton of oi?e, Arsenic produced in Rowno is an important raw material for the
chemical and dye industry. Both the mine and the related metallurgical plant are
operating full blast and produce far more than under German rule. Whereas during
peak activity the Germans produced 2,000 tons of arsenic compounds and 50-60 kilo-
grams of gold, present plans call for the production of 3,000 tons of arsenic com-
pounds and 100 kilograms of gold annually,
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~~~fi~E~TIAI
As for pyrites used for the production of sulfuric acid, these are found
in the Bytom area along with zinc-lead ores, and separately in Ronow, Kamienna
Gora powiat in the Sudetens. Together with the Swietokrzy,je pyrites, they
cover the ma,Jor part of Polish requirements, reducing imports from abroad to
a minimum. I
In the Dolny Slask coal basin, there are also deposits of barite and re-
fractory slate. Barite is obtained in Boza Gora near Walbrzych in quantities
of about 6,000 tons annually, which is sufficient for domestic requirements.
The Nowa Ruda quarry near Klodzk is the only one in Poland for refractory slate.
After roasting, this is an irreplaceable raw material for lining for iron, zinc,
lead and glass furnaces. Annual production is about 100,000 tons of slate and
over 60,000 tons of finished product. B?fore the war, Poland imported this raw
material. Now a large surplus is available for export to Sweden, Norway, and
Italy, former customers of Dolny Slask,
Building materials constitute a rich and varied group of resources in the
Regained Territories. They contain sand, granite, basalt, porphyry, diabase,
andesite, melaphyre, limestone, marble, quartz, and clays, including fireclay,
gypsum, and kaolin, to mention only a few. Some, like. granite, basalt, and
kaolin, are not available elsewhere in Poland.
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