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brown-coal area in the northwestern part of the country. Domestically produced generating units of 200,000-kw. capacity (the largest units employed in Czechoslovakia) have been installed in a few thermal powerplants, and this size of unit will be employed in several new powerplants.
The country's first nuclear powerplant, located at Bohunice, began commercial operation in December 1972. Construction of this plant, which uses natural uranium, began in 1958. Most of the equipment was produced domestically, but technical aid and financing were supplied by the Soviet Union. Construction of two nuclear powerplants of the Soviet Voronezh type, designed to use slightly enriched fuel, began in 1973. These powerplants are to have a capacity of 880,000 kw. each and are to be supplied by the Soviet Union.
3. Minerals and metals (S)
Czechoslovakia is not well endowed with minerals and metals. Its most important reserves are of uranium and magnesite. To meet the demands of its ferrous and nonferrous metals industries, the country depends heavily on imports. The U.S.S.R. is the most important supplier. In 1972 the U.S.S.R. supplied 87% of the nation's imports of iron ore and virtually 100% of pig iron.
Until 1965 Czechoslovakia was the leading producer of iron ore in the Eastern European Communist countries. However, the low quality of the ore—only 34% iron content—had forced a cutback in mining operations beginning in 1963. By 1972, all Eastern European Communist countries except Hungary and East Germany ranked ahead of Czechoslovakia. Reserves in 1965 amounted to 112 million metric tons (iron content). The Czech field south of Kladno contains 90% of the reserves, but the high phosphoric content of the ore from this area renders it expensive to concentrate. Consequently, more than half of the country's output comes from the Slovak field, where the phosphoric content is lower. The richest deposit in this field is at the eastern end, near Kosice. (Locations of these deposits are shown in the Basic Resources and Processing inset on the Summary Map in the Country Profile of this General Survey.)
Reserves of manganese ore are small and of low quality. Domestic output is used primarily for the production of pig iron, its low grade precluding its use in ferroalloys. For this latter purpose, imports, largely from the U.S.S.R. and Cuba, are required. In fact, with the exception of silicon ore and the low-grade manganese ore, the country is totally dependent upon imports for alloying materials. The U.S.S.R. supplied 58% of Czechoslovakia's chrome ore in 1972; Turkey, Albania, and Iran supplied most of the rest. The U.S.S.R. is the principal supplier of nickel and cobalt; in the past it has been the supplier of tungsten and molybdenum. Beginning in 1964, Chinese Communist exports of these ores to the U.S.S.R. fell off, and the U.S.S.R. in turn failed to make promised deliveries to Czechoslovakia. Since 1967, however, Communist China has been exporting tungsten directly to Czechoslovakia, and in 1969 and 1972 the Czechoslovaks imported molybdenum from the United States. Czechoslovakia has also attempted to negotiate for Western supplies of tungsten and iron ore.
Small deposits of lead, zinc, and low-grade copper are scattered throughout the country, but production from these mines is inadequate for domestic needs. Deposits of antimony occur primarily in Slovakia; only small imports are needed to supplement output from these mines.
Czechoslovakia's reserves of magnesite are among the largest in the world; they were estimated in 1965 to be about 500 million metric tons. Mining is centered in eastern Slovakia, where production in 1972 amounted to about 628,000 metric tons. In magnesite production, Czechoslovakia ranks second in world output only to the U.S.S.R. The crude ore is refined in eight magnesite calcining plants in eastern Slovakia, three new kilns have been installed in 1967-69. About 82% of the refined product is exported, largely to Communist countries. About two-thirds of domestic consumption is used in the manufacture of basic refractories for metallurgical processes. The magnesite calcining plants that manufacture the refractories are located in Jelsava, Lubenik, and Lovinobana.
Graphite is mined chiefly near Cesky Krumlov and Cerna v Posumavi in southern Bohemia and near Bystrice nad Pernstejnem in Moravia. The size of the mining operations is unknown, but it appears to be sufficient for domestic requirements and provides a small quantity for export. Processing facilities consist of a crystalline graphite processing plant at Bystrice nad Pernstejnem, and a plant at Tyn nad Vltavou to manufacture high purity graphite to be used in electrotechnology and atomic energy production.
Pyrites occur in limited quantities. They are mined as manganese pyrite in Bohemia and as antimony, copper, and iron pyrite in Slovakia. Sulfur produced from domestic and imported pyrite furnishes about 40% of the country's supply, while imports of
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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110014-8
