Relationship Features of Germanium Concentrations With the Content of Toxic Elements and Total Sulfur in Coal Seam C5b of the «ternivska» Mine

Abstract

Purpose. The purpose of the work is to establish and analyze the relationship between germanium concentrations, toxic elements and the content of total sulfur in the coal seam c5в of the «Ternivska» mine field of the Pavlohrad-Petropavlivka area of Donbas. Methodology. The factual basis of the work was the results of germanium, beryllium, fluorine, mercury, arsenic and total sulfur analyzes in the coal seam c5в. The content of Ge, Be, and F was determined by quantitative emission spectral analysis, Hg and As by atomic absorption analysis. Using the STATISTICA 13.3 and IBM SPSS Statistics 22 programs, the values of the main descriptive statistical indicators were calculated. Correlation and regression analysis was carried out using the methods implemented in Micromine program and their analysis was carried out in geological concepts. Results. It is substantiated that the minimum contents of at least As, Hg, Ge and total sulfur in the coal seam c5в of the "Ternivska" mine were jointly accumulated at the syngenetic stage of its formation. The simultaneous increase in the content of Ge and Be in the area of their low and abnormally low concentrations is caused by the joint accumulation of these elements at the syngenetic stage of coal seam formation and their increase in the area of maximum contents is caused by the manifestation of the empirical regularity of the «Zilbermints law». It is proved that the distribution of the values of Ge content, toxic elements and total sulfur in the coal seam c5в of the «Ternivska» mine differ from the Gaussian-Laplace and lognormal distributions, in all cases the polymodality of the distribution is fixed and the kernel of the distribution density is shifted to the left. Scientific novelty of the results of the conducted research consists in establishing the non-compliance of the samples of all considered elements with the normal or lognormal distribution law, while in all cases the polymodality of the distribution of indicators is recorded, which is confirmed by analytical calculations of the correspondence of the empirical distributions of the studied parameters of the Gaussian distribution using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Shapiro-Uilk criteria, Lilliefors and Pearson's chi-squared agreement. It is proved that the forms of finding of the investigated elements in coal with their concentrations around Clark and in coal with increased contents differ significantly. The influence of syngenetic and epigenetic processes on the nature of the relationship between Ge concentrations, toxic elements and the content of total sulfur in the coal seam c5в of the «Ternivska» mine was revealed. Practical significance of the results of the work consists in establishing the presence of a very low correlation between the concentrations of Ge and toxic elements and total sulfur, therefore, the extraction of germanium from the coal seam will not be accompanied by their significant accumulation during technological processes. It has been proven that for a more realistic assessment of the central tendency of the content of Ge and toxic elements and total sulfur, instead of the values of the arithmetic mean, it is necessary to use the median values. Key words: germanium, beryllium, mercury, arsenic, total sulfur, coal seam, frequency histograms, regression analysis, correlation analysis, polymodality of distribution.

Territorial distribution of germanium in the c5 coal seam on the territory of the “Pavlohradska” mine

“…This characteristic results from the fact that it can manifest itself as a siderophilic, chalcophilic or lithophilic element depending on the specific conditions of geochemical processes [23]. As a result, germanium appears as an isomorphic impurity in the crystal lattices of most silicates, polymetallic sulfides, and some iron oxides [24,25]. In addition, germanium can create its own minerals, which can appear as microinclusions (so-called "prisoner minerals") in the structure of other minerals (so-called "host minerals") or form independent aggregates and large groups (which are very rare).…”