Henryk Elzenberg należy do najoryginalniejszych dwudziestowiecznych polskich myślicieli. Mniej znany za granicą niż Kołakowski czy Ingarden, miał za życia wiernych admiratorów i krąg starannie dobranych uczniów; jednym z nich był młody Zbigniew Herbert. Filozofia Elzenberga, asystematyczna, bardzo osobista i prezentowana w tekstach mających nieraz walory literackie (jego główne dzieło jest rodzajem filozoficznego dziennika prowadzonego przez ponad pół wieku), może być interpretowana na wiele sposobów. Autor artykułu usiłuje uchwycić jej ideę przewodnią i usytuować ją zarówno w kontekście specyficznie polskim, jak i w kontekście kultury współczesnej w ogóle. Utrzymuje, iż Elzenberg był przeświadczony o nieuchronności konfliktu między uduchowioną jednostką a społeczeństwem, jako że tylko jednostka może być nosicielem wartości wyższych. Oznacza to, że historia, będąca domeną walczących ze sobą wspólnot, na zawsze pozostać musi sferą absurdu i immoralizmu; najlepszym wyjściem dla wyrafinowanej jednostki jest więc życie aspołeczne, nastawione na moralne i intelektualne doskonalenie się. Stanowisko takie jest czymś wyjątkowym w kontekście kultury polskiej, zawsze ceniącej życie aktywne i podporządkowującej jednostkę celom wspólnoty. Co więcej, jest ono cennym ewenementem w kontekście współczesnego Zachodu, pozostającego we władzy kolektywistycznych w istocie ideologii, takich jak neoliberalizm (!) czy wszelkiego rodzaju dyskursy tożsamości.

The importance and the role of minerals in the economy of a country or the world is highlighted by the use of the following terms: scarce mineral, critical mineral, and strategic mineral. The validity of the raw material in the economic processes and knowledge about the sources of its acquisition, access barriers, and the shaping of prices on the domestic and international market allow the development of an action strategy. The strategy must take into account the objective of the action, time horizon, the kind of the instruments that need to be used, and the scope of international cooperation. The importance of the raw material for the country is not only the volume of turnover and volume of production obtained thanks to its application. There are also historical, cultural and social reasons for its importance. The authors present arguments for another meaning of the term – mineral criticality. They also point out the linguistic differences between the term “criticality” in Polish and English. They propose to consider water, medicinal raw materials, some rock resources and amber as critical raw materials for various reasons.

Phosphate rocks and elemental phosphorus are considered to be critical raw materials mainly because of such parameters as the growing prices of phosphate fertilizers, the high concentration of producers limited to several countries in the world, the exceptional significance of phosphorus in agriculture and the inability to substitute it.
In Poland 100% of the demand phosphate rocks relies on import. The expansion and mining of the nation’s own resource base may be an alternative to import and a way to provide safety of supplies. Historically, phosphorites from the northern margin of the Holy Cross Mountains were extracted using the underground method, which was abandoned in the beginning of the 1970s due to the unprofitability of extraction. However, in eastern and south-eastern Poland, phosphorite concretions of the Eocene age occur at shallow depths, which can have local significance as mineral deposits and might be extracted in open-pit mines. The economics of mining in shallow opencasts do not require such stringent limiting parameters for phosphate deposits as those currently valid, which were established for underground mining conditions.
In this publication, the authors analyzed contemporary conditions for a cost-effective phosphorite deposit, including the price fluctuations of phosphate rock, a review of threshold parameters of deposits for phosphorite projects in the world, and the economics of open-pit ore extraction, where an aggregate mine with mixed extraction (partially from below the water table) was adopted as a point of reference.
As a result, new threshold parameters defining an ore deposit and its boundaries are proposed for Eocene phosphorites in Poland.

Poland is among the top ten countries in the world in terms of lignite resources (including reserves). With respect to lignite mining, its position is even higher at sixth in the world, fourth in Europe and second in the European Union (EU). The role of lignite in the Polish energy mix is crucial because ~27% of electricity was generated in lignite-fired power plants in 2022. However, there are countries in Europe where the dependence on lignite is much greater and currently in the range of 40–96%. B oth the national and EU climate energy policy assumes the abandonment of lignite as a source of ‘dirty’ electricity within the next two decades. This ambitious goal is achievable but it may be threatened by the geopolitical situation. However, after 2040–2044, a large number of lignite deposits will remain in Poland. The deposits are well recognized and the detailed geology is well documented, with the estimated reserves intended for exploitation amounting to 5.8 Gt. These deposits, like the five which are currently mined, are stratigraphically diverse and characterized by a complex geology, representing different genetic types. In the context of a coal-free energy policy in the EU, the problem of the legal protection of lignite deposits remains. Thus, the question arises of what is next for Polish lignite deposits. They may be managed in the coming decades by using improved unconventional methods, such as in situ or ex situ gasification. Lignite deposits will constitute a strategic reserve in the event of a deep energy crisis caused by an unstable geopolitical situation. Finally, we suggest the urgent introduction of more precise legal changes that would protect at least part of the lignite resources in Poland for future generations.