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