Abstrakt
The aim of the article is the biggest surface mining disaster in Poland and its economic results. The accident occurred in 1977 in Tadeusz Kosciuszko Salt Mine in Wapno (at present in Great Poland region). Up to the 90’s of the XX century, the society hadn’t been aware about the catastrophe. Nowadays, it is still almost unknown. Wapno has never regained its prosperity. The study object is the hold-up problem in managing the natural resources (salt) and the socio- economic results for Wapno, Greater Poland region and Poland as a whole. The study methods are based mainly on observation because the author of the article witnessed the incident, the case study and the analysis of bibliography sources.