CHARACTERISTICS OF BONE COAL IN MINING AREA OF PT. BERAU COAL BINUNGAN AND SAMBARATA MINING SITE BERAU SUB-BASIN, TARAKAN BASIN, EAST KALIMANTAN

• Main Author: DIAN RIFALDI (NIM : 12113074), MIRZA
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/23085
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Coal is one of the fossil fuel which plays important role in human life. In Indonesia, coal is used as the main fuel in Steam Power Plant (PLTU) and industrial fuel. The coal forming process is a long process, starting from the peatification to coalification. At this process, it is possible for some minerals and another anorganics matter to enter into the peat deposition or the coal forming environment. At the mine area of PT. Berau Coal, found a very hard coal known as bone coal. Bone coal is an aggregate found in coal seam that has a very high ash content, which is hard and almost like a rock (American Geoscience Institute). The ash content of bone coal usually more than 25%. The existence of bone coal in coal seam causes many problems, both in mining activities, processing and usage of the coal. Bone coal would be analyzed using ICPINAA, XRD, and petrographic methods to determine the main elements and minerals composition, also to interpret the diagenesis process of bone coal. <br /> <br /> <br /> The results of the analysis shows the dominant compound of bone coal is silica (SiO2). In its dominant existence as quartz mineral. From the texture and the observed relation between the grain, quartz formed diagenetically in the coal seam. Diagenetic quartz in bone coal formed through the silicification process. Suspected source of the silika is the coal seam interburden, which is consist of silika-rich sandstone and claystone. Silika dissolved as the result of the chemical weathering and leaching, and then carried into the coal forming environment by the groundwater. This silika then undergoes enrichment and precipitation following the Opal A-Opal CT-Quartz transformat