About 50 different types of minerals discovered in Belarus

Some fifty different types of minerals have been discovered on the territory of Belarus, and the total number of deposits exceeds 14,000 – as informed by Aleksei Varvish, the Deputy Director of the Belarusian State Geological Centre RUE

“For certain types of minerals, the number of explored deposits is as follows: 22 quartz sand deposits for sand production, 32 refractory clay deposits, 20 dolomite deposits, 4 kaolin deposits, and 1,987 sand deposits (used as moulding for glass production),” the specialist said.

In addition, Belarus boasts significant peat reserves, ranking fifth in Europe after Russia, Finland, Germany, Sweden and occupying the leading place in terms of production.

“The total area of the country’s peat fund is estimated at 2.4m hectares (more than 10 percent of the territory). The initial geological reserve of peat makes 5.7bn tonnes. Based on the latest estimates, Belarus’ remaining peat resources are estimated at about 4bn tonnes,” Boris Kurzo, who heads the laboratory for the use and protection of peat and sapropel deposits at the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Nature Management, added.

As noted by the expert, an inventory of Belarus’ peat deposits and an assessment of their current state are currently being carried out using satellite images. In addition, an atlas of the country's peat resources is being developed.