MINERAL MATTER IN TRIASSIC AND TERTIARY LOW-RANK COALS FROM SOUTH-AUSTRALIA

The minerals and non-mineral inorganic constituents in Triassic and Tertiary low-rank coals from various coal deposits in South Australia were studied using selective chemical leaching and oxygen-plasma ashing techniques. Although gypsum may be present in some samples, most of the sodium, calcium and magnesium, as well as part of the sulphur, appears to occur as a combination of dissolved ions in pore water and exchangeable ions attached to carboxylate groups. Significant concentrations of iron and aluminium occur in acid-soluble form, probably as organometallic complexes within the hydrocarbon structure. Quartz is the dominant mineral in the Tertiary coal samples. It appears to be mainly detrital, but doubly terminated euhedral crystals suggest an authigenic origin in one of the deposits. Well crystallized kaolinite is common in the Triassic coals, while poorly crystallized kaolinite occurs in the Tertiary samples. Siderite, calcite and possibly collophane occur in the Triassic coals; sparse pyrite is present in both the Tertiary and the Triassic samples. The differences in minerals and other inorganic constituents between the Tertiary and Triassic deposits can be explained partly by variations in the composition of the pore waters permeating the strata, and partly by mobility of silica and alumina from different sources within the peat deposit. The relative mobility of the different inorganic constituents is also significant in beneficiation of the coal for use in combustion processes.