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Elemental geochemistry and mineralogy of coals and associated coal mine overburden from Makum coalfield (Northeast India)

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Abstract

The insufficient research on the nature and mode of occurrence of minerals and other inorganic elements of the Northeast Indian coal deposits has resulted in lack of proper utilization, assessment and mitigation of environmental degradation. The mineralogical and geochemical aspects of these coals were studied through the techniques such as optical microscopy, low temperature quantitative X-ray diffraction (LTA-XRD), scanning electron microscopy energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM–EDS), inductively coupled mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) and chemical analysis techniques. The leaching behavior of the elements including REEs in presence of water was studied. The high organic sulfur (>75 % of total sulfur) and low ash yields were observed in these coals, varying with seam depth. The dominance of vitrinite (94.1–94.3 %) with an R max 0.72–0.78 % in these coals along with their dominance within the lean organic fraction in the coal mine overburden (OB) samples was reported. The major oxides present in these coals and their associated overburden samples were studied through XRF analysis. Various mineral phases were identified in both coal and OB samples such as dawsonite, pyrite, diaspore, marcasite, gypsum, thenardite berzeliite (garnet), etc. The SEM–EDS analysis indicated the presence of siderite, pyrite, and kaolinite, quartz, illite, etc., in the coal, OB and leached samples. The distribution of concentrations of the 48 trace and rare earth elements (REEs) varying with seam depth were normalized by upper continental crust (UCC) and found to be lower in comparison to global, Chinese, and USA coals. The statistical analysis on the trace and rare earth elements in the coals was performed to know their mutual correlations.

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Acknowledgments

The financial support from CSIR, New Delhi is thankfully acknowledged (MLP-6000-WP-III). Authors are grateful to Prof. Shifeng Dai for the analytical assistance including ICPMS, LTA-XRD, and SEM–EDS, which were supported by National Key Basic Research Program of China (No. 2014CB238902). We are thankful to Dr James C Hower and Ms Madison Hood for petrographic data of the samples. Authors express thanks to the staff of Northeastern coalfield (Margherita) for their help in sampling. The authors are also thankful to the Director, CSIR-NEIST for his keen interest to this collaborative work. Authors are thankful to three anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments to improve the revised manuscript.

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  1. Coal Chemistry Division, CSIR-North East Institute of Science and Technology, Jorhat, 785006, India

    Binoy K. Saikia, Ananya Saikia, Rahul Choudhury & Tonkeswar Das

  2. State Key Laboratory of Coal Resources and Safe Mining, China University of Mining and Technology (Bei**g), D11, Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Bei**g, 100083, People’s Republic of China

    Panpan **e & **g**g Liu

  3. Bio-Technology Division, CSIR-North East Institute of Science and Technology, Jorhat, 785006, India

    Hari P. Dekaboruah

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  1. Binoy K. Saikia
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Saikia, B.K., Saikia, A., Choudhury, R. et al. Elemental geochemistry and mineralogy of coals and associated coal mine overburden from Makum coalfield (Northeast India). Environ Earth Sci 75, 660 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-016-5484-x

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