English Version - United Nations Development Programme Romania

The geological reserves of ferrous and non-ferrous resources (in state ownership) that are pay-ore
using the current mining technologies are presently estimated as:
40 million tons of gold and silver ore;
90 million tons of poly-metallic ores;
900 million tons of copper ore;
4 billion tons of salt.
The Romanian subsoil also contains deposits of rare and radioactive metal ores, manganese-iron,
bauxite and a large variety of ferrous substances and rocks used in industry.
The main mining consumers of ores are:
Non-ferrous metallurgy and steel industry, chemical industry for ore products (metallic concentrates)
Chloride and sodium industry, domestic consumption (salt)
Paper, ceramics, glass, plastics, rubber, finishing varnish, paint, electrical engineering and food
industries
Non-ferrous metal ores and gold and silver are found in small and medium size deposits and with
low metallic potential.
The metal content in the mined ore is small. The metallurgic value of a reserve tone from the used
deposits in Romania is $5-7 per ton, 3-4 times less than the deposits exploited internationally under
profitable conditions.
The non-ferrous deposits are also of rather poor quality.
As an effect of the unpromising geological and mining characteristics of the exploited ore
deposits, and due to the small metal content of the ores, as well as to the reduced reliability of the
working equipment, the cost of mining products is generally well above the market prices. Thus, the state
supports the ore mining activity and the production of non-ferrous concentrates and precious metals by
providing subsidies.
4.3.2 Energy resources
a) Oil and gas
Romania has a land and sea surface of about 130,000 km² that allows hydrocarbons to
accumulate, but geological conditions are varied, considerably influencing the exploration and
exploitation activities.
Seismic and drilling operations to a depth of up to 4,000 m are advanced in all geological units,
except the Oriental Carpathians area, where the tectonics is complex, the surveying technologies are
insufficient and the access roads do not allow for a sustained development of geological works.
According to some results released by the American Prospecting Department, Romania has
oil reserves of about 200 million tones and natural gas reserves of about 400 billion m³, found at
depths of over 4,000 m and in complex geological conditions.
The actual potential is made up of the existing reserves (73.4%) and prospective reserves
(26.6%). Of the total existing reserves of natural gas deposits, about 64% have pressures in excess of 20
atm, out of which the Transylvania Depression (the main national supplier) holds only 57% of the
reserves.
b) Coal
In Romania, coal plays important parts as a primary energy source supply. Thus, in 1998, 20.6%
of the internal primary energy production came from coal.
The geological coal reserves exploitable in the present technical-economic context are estimated
at about 3,433 billion tons, of which 2,620 million tons lignite, 0,759 million tons bituminous coal, and
0,054 million tons brown coal.
The impact that the coal quality has on the main users as well as on the coal market is influenced
by the following factors: the cost of energy production for the users, which is determined by the coal
quality; the high degree of pollution caused by incomplete combustion. Additional problems are the
elimination of gases and ensuing ashes, and large areas taken up for mining purposes, thus making them
unavailable for other types of economic activitie s. At the same time, the technologies used in the
extraction and refining of coal are below the level of those used in EU countries, partly due to the reduced
reliability of the technologies applied, and partly to geologic and mining conditions that do not allow for
advanced methods of exploitation. All these specific conditions lead to high production costs and to
the lack of competitiveness of this industrial branch, as compared to the EU countries.
The problems that arise when drawing up a development strategy for the coal extracting industry
are linked both to the economic and energetic limitations of the deposits under exploitation, and to the
limit to which they can be used to produce thermal and electrical energy.
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