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The results of geologic survey work show that the Republic possesses a good potential for the development of its own raw material facilities which are able to completely meet the requirements of the national economy for potassium fertilizers, rock salts, raw materials for soil chalking, the production of cement, crushed stone, construction sand and sand and gravel materials, ceramic clay, communal potable and mineral waters.

Belarus ranks second in Europe for its stock of stone salts. The Pripyat sagging of the area of over 26 thousand sq. km houses a huge salt basin with the thickness of the salt-bearing rock of 2 to 3 km (980 m on the average). The stocks here are estimated to be 20 thousand min tons. Stocks of granite in the Mikashevichy deposit, wherein a powerful extraction enterprise is operating, are estimated to be 480 min. cubic meters.

Fifty-two petroleum deposits are known in the Republic, with 30 of them being worked on. The annual extraction output is about 2 min tons. Peat areas occupy 12.3% of the Belarusian territory, with the peat stock being 36% of the total amount in the CIS. Peat has been and is being extracted at 1377 peat areas out of the total number of 7 thousands.

Total stocks of sapropel are about 4,000 mln cubic meters, however their extraction is rather poor. The forecast stocks of oil shales to the depth of 600 m are about 11,000 mln tons, those of bituminous coal are about 300 mln tons, and of brown coal are over 1,000 mln tons.

The total estimated stock of iron ore is about 700 mln tons, whereas the forecast for it is over 1,500 mln tons. Other metals have been detected: copper, nickel, lead, ink, molybdenum, niobium, tantalum, beryllium and others.

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