The geochemistry of tungsten in Bulgarian coals

This paper discusses the tungsten geochemistry in coal, based on the behavior of this element in 14 Bulgarian deposits. The W contents range from 0.5–4335 ppm in the ash and from 0.01–784 ppm in the coals. In four of the deposits the tungsten content proved to be 16 to 100 times higher than the Clarke value for sedimentary rocks. No correlation has been found between the W concentration and either the age of the coal-bearing strata or the coal rank. The deposits were divided in three groups on the basis of the relationship between tungsten and ash content. The role of sorption ash and terrigenous ash in tungsten binding was evaluated for each group. The correlation between tungsten and organic matter is demonstrated by the increased contents of tungsten in the ash of the low-ash coals, its concentration in the lighter coal fractions, its extraction from the coals by HF and NaOH only, and by model experiments. Sorption ash concentrates tungsten; terrigenous ash is a carrier of tungsten.Of the petrographic constituents of coal, vitrain was found to concentrate the largest amounts of tungsten.In two of the deposits richest in tungsten, there is a very distinct zonality in its vertical distribution — tungsten concentration decreases from the bottom to the top of the coal bed. This zonality might be explained by the diffusion (syngenetic or diagenetic with respect to the coal-forming process) through the coal bed of aqueous solutions enriched in tungsten.The wide range of variation of the tungsten concentrations, the considerable differences in the mean contents and the dispersions between the individual deposits show that tungsten is very sensitive to the differences of the source area.Coal deposits enriched in tungsten may be expected in the following favourable environments: (1) in areas with nitrogen-bearing thermal waters containing increased amounts of tungsten; (2) source areas with tungsten mineralizations; and (3) country rocks consisting of acid granitoids whose Clarke values of tungsten are the highest as compared to the other types of rocks.