Mineral matter identification in some Pakistani coals

Extractions of some of the inorganic elements from Pakistani coal samples were made with ammonium acetate, HCl, HNO3, and acid mixture. The various extracts and the residues were analyzed for the inorganic elements like Cu, Zn, Mn, Fe, Ca, Mg, K and Na. Even though ammonium acetate and acids extracted a considerable amount of inorganic elements, complete demineralization was not achieved. These elements are present both in the form of ion exchangeable cations (extractable with ammonium acetate) and as part of discrete-mineral particles (extractable with acids).