Economic of non-metallic materials in the Slovak Republic in the European context

Mineral resources of Slovak Republic provide a rather wide range of minerals. A significant portion of the quantity of resources, mining, processing, as well as price of minerals and their export share is represented by non-metallic materials which significantly contribute to the gross domestic product. Some non-metallic materials exploited in Slovak Republic manage to hold their stable position not only on the Slovak market, but also on the European market. The submitted article deals with the economic importance of the selected non-metallic materials in Slovak Republic and in Europe. It describes the most perspective non-metallic materials, their resources, methods of use, while focusing also on the economic importance of non-metallic materials in Slovak Republic, compared to the European Union countries (hereinafter referred to as "EU"). It analyses the resources of silicates, carbonates, evaporates in construction materials and compares their production, import and export with EU countries.