grafika ilustracyjnaIn Leszcze near Kłodawa, a modern storage warehouse for geological samples and an analytical-laboratory building for on-site geological surveys are being built. This is the most important investment in the field of geological sample management belonging to the State Treasury in many years. The opening of the facility is planned for 2023. 


The virtual meeting on the construction of the Geological Samples Central Warehouse (CMPG) was attended, among others, by Michał Kurtyka, Minister for Climate and Environment, Piotr Dziadzio, Deputy Minister and Chief National Geologist, and Mateusz Damrat, Director of the Polish Geological Institute - National Research Institute.


Construction of the Geological Samples Central Warehouse in Leszcze is an important investment for geologists, which will conclude the process of centralizing geological samples archives. At present, geological samples, mainly in the form of drill cores, are stored in 11 locations all over the country. Collecting the whole resource in one place will facilitate access to geological information. Conditions for storing core samples in new premises will guarantee the intact preservation of research material for a very long time.

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Minister Michał Kurtyka (center) during the opening of the video conference on the construction of the Geological Samples Central Warehouse in Leszcze near Kłodawa. Also present in the photo are Piotr Dziadzio (right) - Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Climate and Environment, Chief National Geologist, and Mateusz Damrat - Director of the Polish Geological Institute-NRI

- One of the pillars for stable economic growth of a country is access to mineral resources. It is possible only thanks to reliable and objective knowledge, which we gain, among others, from geological information. This valuable and necessary source of information is used in making economic decisions. It is our duty to take care of the geological archives, which are the heritage of many generations of geologists - emphasized Minister Michał Kurtyka.

Each year, geologists examine drill cores from tens of thousands of boxes. The oldest drill cores, which are collected in the archives of the Polish Geological Institute, come from holes drilled before World War II. In total, over the course of a century, the Institute has accumulated nearly 900 thousand linear meters of cores from 5,611 boreholes. The archive in Leszcze near Kłodawa, where the new facility is being built, has the largest volume of nearly 207,000 linear meters of cores. Ultimately, an area of 7,500 square meters will be used to store about 1 million linear meters of drill cores. The building also includes modern laboratory facilities and a conference room. All facilities meet the standards expected for this type of investments in the world.

As pointed out by the Deputy Minister for Climate and Environment, Piotr Dziadzio, drill cores are valuable material not only in terms of research, but also from the perspective of economic benefits for future geological work. - We have to remember that geological exploration, especially the drilling of research boreholes, is a very expensive undertaking. The cost of drilling a borehole to a depth of about 5 km usually amounts to a few tens of million PLN. Moreover, these processes are time-consuming. Apart from the results of geophysical research, the fruits of these drillings are the fragments of cores. We are all the more pleased that such valuable geological information will be even better protected for present and future generations - said the Deputy Minister.

One of the tasks of the Polish Geological Survey (pol. Polska Służba Geologiczna – PSG), which is carried out by the Polish Geological Institute - National Research Institute, is to collect, process and make available geological information. The construction of the new facility will change the profile of the central geological archive from a storage-only unit to a processing unit for geological information contained within geological samples. The planned digital archiving of drill cores will be another step in this direction.

– The development of research and laboratory methods will probably make it possible, in the near or distant future, to discover new deposits of minerals or sources of energy resources in our country, among others based on analysis of drill cores stored in the Geological Samples Central Warehouse. They are exceptional, often unique, difficult to reproduce and are an expensive research material. This valuable source of geological information which, despite the passage of years, gives a chance to discover secrets hidden deep underground - added Mateusz Damrat, PGI-PIB director.

The facility, which is funded by the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management, is scheduled to open in 2023.

Text and photos: Ministry of Climate and Environment / Polish Geological Institute-NRI
Translated by Tomasz Trzpil (PGI-NRI)