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Coal:RESOURCE PACK
Coal Mining and Processing in South Africa
Coal Mining and Processing in South Africa
11Coal is the altered remains ofprehistoric vegetation that originally
accumulated in swamps and peat
bogs.The build-up of silt and other sediments, together
with movements in the EarthÕs crust (known as tectonic
movements) buried these swamps and peat bogs,often to great depths. With burial, the plant material
was subjected to high temperatures and pressures.
This caused physical and chemical changes in the
vegetation, transforming it into peat and then into
coal.Coal formation began during theCarboniferous Period Ð known as the
first coal age Ð which spanned
360 million to 290 million years ago.The quality of each coal deposit is
determined by temperature and
pressure and by the length of time in
formation, which is referred to as its
Ôorganic maturityÕ. Initially the peat is
converted into lignite or Ôbrown coalÕ
Ð these are coal types with low organic
maturity. In comparison to other coals,
lignite is quite soft and its colour can
range from dark black to various shades
of brown.
Over many more millions of years, the
continuing effects of temperature and
pressure produces further change in the lignite,
progressively increasing its organic maturity and
transforming it into the range known as Ôsub-
bituminousÕ coals.Further chemical and physical changes occur until
these coals became harder and blacker, forming the
ÔbituminousÕ or Ôhard coalsÕ. Under the right conditions,
the progressive increase in the organic maturity can
continue, finally forming anthracite.DefinitionCoal is a fossil fuel. It is a combustible,sedimentary, organic rock, which is composed
mainly of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. It is
formed from vegetation, that has beenconsolidated between other rock strata andaltered by the combined effects of pressure and
heat over millions of years to form coal seams.
Types of CoalThe degree of change undergone by a coal as it
matures from peat to anthracite Ð known as
coalification Ð has an important bearing on its physical
and chemical properties and is referred to as the
ÔrankÕ of the coal.What is Coal?
Source: Australian
Coal AssociationPeat
Brown coal
Sub-bituminousBituminous200150
100500Reserves-to-production Ratios. 2003 (years)
Source: BP 2004
OilNatural GasCoalCountries with the Largest Reserves of Coal, 2003 (billion tonnes)
250200150
100
500USA
RussiaChinaIndiaAustralia
GermanySouth Africa
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