Apatite in coal from bed 361 in the south-western part of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin

The presence and form of occurrence of phosphorus in coal is important not only from the scientific point of view, but it is also relevant in practical aspects (origin of deposit, paleoenvironment index, correlation of beds, coke production, economically significant presence of REEs in phosphates). In the south-western part of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin, in coal bed 361, sampled in one of the mines, phosphorus occurs in the form of its phase-apatite, which accompanies kaolinite, siderite, dolomite and pyrite. Apatite contains significant amounts of fluorine, which allows the mineral to be classified as fluorapatite. In the examined apatites Ca was substituted by Na, Mn and REEs, and P was substituted by Si. The presence of fluorapatite alongside kaolinite, as well as the idiomorphic form of occurrence of fluorapatite, indicate that this mineral is an automorphic component of coal which formed during the metamorphism of organic matter.