About 30 kinds of mineral raw materials can be found in Belarus (more than 4000 deposits and fields). The most significant are potassium salts the reserves of which occupy one of the leading places in Europe. The reserves of rock-salt are virtually inexhaustible. The prospected industrial reserves in the Mozyr, Davydov and Starobin deposits exceed 22 billion tons.

The country is rich in rock products, such as granites, dolomites and dolomite limestone, marl, chalk, fusible and refractory clay, loam, sand and gravel. There are raw materials for the production of natural paints (marsh iron ore, ochre, glauconite, etc.).

Very common on the territory of Belarus are mineral waters. The availability of high quality water resources stimulates the construction of sanatorium and resort complexes and the development of companies trading and exporting mineral curative and table water. In recent years more than 63 sources have been discovered with the possible supply of 155,572 m3 per day.

The Republic possesses sufficiently strong raw material reserves for the production of construction materials. However, there is deficit of high-grade glass-making sand and clays.

Peat fields are widely spread in Belarus, although, due to an intensive exploration, the peat fields as production sources have largely been exhausted. The total geological reserves are estimated at 4.4 billion tons. The extractable resources constitute 600 million tons, while the rest is within protected zones or is included into the land stock of the Republic. Sapropels are an important natural raw fertilizer, their estimated reserves are 3 billion cubic meters. A comprehensive utilization of peat and sapropel resources is important. The reserves of oil are not big and oil is extracted in small quantities. Deposits of brown coal and pyrischist have been found in Belarus. However, their low caloric value and high ash content preclude their utilization in energy production in the near future. Briquetted brown coal (possibly, with peat) can only be used as household fuel material or as raw material for producing wax and plant growth stimulants. On the whole, the internal fuel and energy resources, including associated gas and wood, can only provide for 12% of the total requirements of the Republic's economy.

The Belarusian territory is promising in terms of ferrous and non-ferrous metals. Geological exploration in search for amber, titanium, rare-earth metals deposits is underway.

The existing resources of mineral raw materials fully provide for the future needs of potassium and rock salt, lime and cement materials, refractory and ceramic clays, construction sand, gravel, or facing stone.

It must be noted that the mining resources in Belarus are still insufficiently investigated. The new economic situation and the emergence of sophisticated technologies call for a revaluation of the deposits and reserves of mineral resources in the Republic, a more efficient utilization of all components of the resources mined.