COAL • HARD COAL IS POLAND'S GREATEST FOSSIL RESOURCE. ITS DEPOSITS LOCATED IN OUR COUNTRY ARE ESTIMATED AT APPROXIMATELY 50 BILLION TONS AND CONSTITUTE 5% OF WORLD RESOURCES. • MINES IN POLAND REACH OVER A KILOMETER UNDERGROUND. MOST OF POLAND'S COAL RESOURCES ARE LOCATED IN A REGION CALLED SILESIA. THESE ARE THE THIRD LARGEST DEPOSITS IN EUROPE. • IT TAKES 1,200 YEARS FOR THE PLANT REMAINS NECESSARY TO CREATE A 1-METER-THICK COAL SEAM TO ACCUMULATE.
How coal was created ? Hard coal deposits were formed over 300 million years ago from forests full of clubmosses, horsetails and ferns, the remains of which fell into swamps. The area gradually decreased. In anaerobic conditions, the plants charred.