Mineralogical and geochemical characteristics of late permian coals from the mahe mine, Zhaotong Coalfield, Northeastern Yunnan, China

Abstract

This paper reports the mineralogical and geochemical compositions of the Late Permian C2, C5a, C5b, C6a, and C6b semianthracite coals from the Mahe mine, northeastern Yunnan, China. Minerals in the coals are mainly made up of quartz, chamosite, kaolinite, mixed-layer illite/smectite (I/S), pyrite, and calcite; followed by anatase, dolomite, siderite, illite and marcasite. Similar to the Late Permian coals from eastern Yunnan, the authigenic quartz and chamosite were precipitated from the weathering solution of Emeishan basalt, while kaolinite and mixed-layer I/S occurring as lenses or thin beds were related to the weathering residual detrital of Emeishan basalt. However, the euhedral quartz and apatite particles in the Mahe coals were attributed to silicic-rock detrital input. It further indicates that there has been silicic igneous eruption in the northeastern Yunnan. Due to the silicic rock detrital input, the Eu/Eu* value of the Mahe coals is lower than that of the Late Permian coals from eastern Yunnan, where the detrital particles were mainly derived from the basalt. The high contents of Sc, V, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Ga, and Sn in the Mahe coals were mainly derived from the Kangdian Upland.