What's in My Coal?

jrn8265 · Post by **jrn8265** » Fri. Mar. 28, 2014 7:21 am

Received a delivery of 5 tons the other day. Looks real clean but I do have these in it. Never seen them before, usually I see roots and wood but never these very light, yellow, solid "rocks" any idea what they are? Thank you!

Post by **ONEDOLLAR** » Fri. Mar. 28, 2014 8:36 am

Gold?

Carbon12 · Post by **Carbon12** » Fri. Mar. 28, 2014 8:41 am

Iron pyrite?

2001Sierra · Post by **2001Sierra** » Fri. Mar. 28, 2014 8:47 am

These in quantity should make some nice clinkers.

grimmy · Post by **grimmy** » Fri. Mar. 28, 2014 5:46 pm

It's hard to tell on the photos. The one on the bottom right looks to be a piece of jackstone(pottsville conglomerate). The others look like a dirty piece of pyrite. Some pyrite pieces that get pulled with coal are running right against the coal vein. They actually have vessel rock and coal mixed in with the pyrite. I personally know that some coal veins are higher in pyrite content than others. Coal pulled off the Lykens Valley #7 vein has a good bit of pyrite. I'm not saying that's what you got, but from the pictures. Looks like a bit of pyrite to me. Either way that should never made it through the breaker.

Post by **dcrane** » Fri. Mar. 28, 2014 9:42 pm

just think

.... hold onto those beauties another 2 million years and your 100x great grandkids will have some big Diamonds!

Post by **Lightning** » Sat. Mar. 29, 2014 4:10 am

Pulverize a piece of it with a hammer and see if that yellowish color is webbed thru it, or if its just on the surface of the pieces..

I get some orange colored pieces like that too, but only a few..

Ctyankee · Post by **Ctyankee** » Sat. Mar. 29, 2014 9:56 am

how do breakers separate coal from rock anyway?

VigIIPeaBurner · Post by **VigIIPeaBurner** » Sat. Mar. 29, 2014 11:24 am

Ctyankee wrote:how do breakers separate coal from rock anyway?

A short but sweet discussion ...

How does a breaker work?

grimmy · Post by **grimmy** » Sat. Mar. 29, 2014 8:05 pm

That is correct on how a breaker works, some of them. Some of the older breakers don't use a cone. The coal is brought in on the mine run line to a sizing table on the top floor of the breaker. First line is a mix of mine run that is sized Pea to Stove.(mine run is coal with rock still in the mix) First line has a screen that nothing larger than Buck can go through. Buck and under is sent through to a sluice table. Which is ran just the opposite of running gold, since rock is denser than coal. Coal is then collected in a tank and resent to the top of the breaker via the Pea line. Ran across a set of sizing tables and in to the product bins for shipping. Now stove to pea is sent to the magnetite tank. The mix goes in the tank and the coal is forced across the heavy water by water jets. The vessel rock, and jack stone sink, and remove by a paddle wheel scraper. Coal is sent back up to the top and sized the same way as the finer coal sizes.

carlherrnstein · Post by **carlherrnstein** » Sat. Mar. 29, 2014 8:44 pm

Try a magnet on it, my coal supplier said they have found meteorites in the coal. I don't think iron pyrite rusts, I would imagine its just iron stained coal.

VigIIPeaBurner · Post by **VigIIPeaBurner** » Sun. Mar. 30, 2014 7:12 am

Youtube video, circa 2008:

grimmy · Post by **grimmy** » Sun. Mar. 30, 2014 7:20 am

The Old Wooden Girl!! Superior Coal

What's in My Coal?

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