The Polish Salt Mining Association (PSGS) was founded on 4 December 1991. On that day, the relevant entry was made in the Polish National Register of Associations based on the decision of the Regional Court in Kraków. Next, the General Assembly of the PSGS members elected the first PSGS bodies on 24 February 1992: Management Board, Audit Committee, and Disciplinary Panel.
The term of each body lasts three years. Until 2022, ten terms passed. The following four PSGS Presidents were elected in that period:
- Dr inż. Grzegorz Kortas, 1992-1995
- Prof. dr hab. inż. Aleksander Garlicki, 1995-1998
- Dr inż. Andrzej Maciejewski, 1998-2001
- Dr inż. Jacek Wachowiak, 2003-2006, 2006-2009, 2009-2012, 2012-2015
- Dr hab. inż. Krzysztof Bukowski, 2015-2018
- Dr inż. Jacek Wachowiak, 2018-2021, 2021-…
The members of the current PSGS bodies are listed under the „Board” tab.
Details on the PSGS origin and the members of the authorities in particular terms are specified under the „History” tab.
The PSGS membership includes the workers of the mining companies, Universities, government agencies, research and development centres involved in salt deposit prospecting, mining, and management. The goal of PSGS is to act to the benefit of broadly understood salt mining industry, business, and research in Poland, including e.g. the following:
- To express opinions on important salt mining issues,
- To disseminate salt mining knowledge and research achievements,
- To integrate the salt mining communities,
- To co-operate in the educational projects designed for salt mining personnel.
PSGS achieves its statutory goals e.g. through the following:
- Organisation of conferences, exhibitions, and seminars dedicated to salt issues,
- Organisation of research field trips to study salt deposits around the world,
- Publication of studies relating to salt mining,
- Organisation of training courses and post-graduate studies on salt mining issues,
All the statutory goals of PSGS and the methods of implementation thereof, together with other rules governing the PSGS activities can be found under the „Declaration” tab.
To achieve its statutory goals, PSGS completed several dozens of projects until 2022, including the following:
“Quo Vadis Sal” Symposiums
27 International Salt Symposiums have been completed under the common slogan of “Quo Vadis Sal.” The QVS Symposium is the largest salt discussion forum in Poland and one of the largest in the world. Each year, the participants include the representatives of the Polish government agencies, research persons from Universities and research establishments, together with specialists from Polish and foreign salt mining and salt processing companies and businesses. In recent years, about 120–140 participants represented about 50 Polish and foreign agencies, institutes, and businesses from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, China, France, Germany, Slovakia, Türkiye, Ukraine, and the USA. Details of the Quo Vadis Sal Programmes are presented under the under the “Conferences” tab.
PSGS Expeditions
PSGS organised 13 Research Expeditions to interesting locations of salt deposits and evaporite sits: Dead Sea (2006), Sicily (2007), Ukraine (2008), Romania (2009), Peru-Bolivia-Chile (2010), Türkiye (2011), Morocco (2012), Dominican Republic (2013), Spain (2014), Bosnia and Herzegovina (2016), Georgia (2017), Iran (2018), and Portugal (2019). Details of the Expedition Programmes are presented under the under the “Expeditions” tab.
Salt Review
PSGS edited and published 16 volumes of the Salt Review yearbook. The papers published concern the issues relating to Polish and foreign salt mining, including geology, engineering, industry, and other relevant matters. Each paper is read by two reviewers. Since 2022, the Salt Review is published in full Polish and English versions. All the volumes and papers can be downloaded in the PDF format from under the “Salt Review” tab.
In 2022, The Polish Salt Mining Association celebrated its 30th anniversary. The period was dedicated to substantive work to the benefit of the Polish salt mining industry, based on excellent and friendly co-operation. The Jubilee events took place in the Auditorium of the AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków.
We wish to thank you for tender, warm, kind-hearted, and optimistic wishes of continuation of our beautiful common work, with every success today and in the future.
God Bless our Miners!
Dr inż. Jacek Wachowiak
PSGS President