Peat Exploration for Medical Use

Abstract

An extended swamp was developed in the western foreland of Lake Balaton in the Holocene. The peat has already been explored for hundred years. The peat based product, the HUMET-R syrup became a medicine by the ´90s. Its main component is humin acid that acts as a transporter of trace elements or as a reducer of the excess trace elements of the human body. The aim of the exploration was to delineate medical peat in Keszthely region. By the 84 core drillings of the 190 000 m2 exploration area 367 000 m3 of exploitable peat reserve was found. The peat is divided into three types: mature, fibrous peat (bull liver) and mixed types. The bulk of the reserve belongs to the mixed peat type. It has favourable properties such as 43 - 68 m % of humin acid and 12 - 16 m % of ash content. The groundwater table is at 0.4 - 0.6 m thus it is necessary to drawdown during the periods of exploitation.