SOME COAL RELATED CLAY OCCURRENCES: GEOCHEMICAL, MINERALOGICAL PROPERTIES AND USAGE OF CLAY POTENTIALS IN BIGA PENINSULA, TURKEY

9th International Multidisciplinary Scientific GeoConference - SGEM2009, www.sgem.org, SGEM2009 Conference Proceedings/ ISBN 10: 954-91818-1-2, June 14-19, 2009, Vol. 1, 113-120 pp

ABSTRACT

This study focuses on the geochemical and mineralogical compounds of clay
occurrences that had been interbedded low rank coals in Biga Peninsula, Turkey. The
usages of these clay formations were also studied. Clay occurrences were formed and
alternated along with Tertiary lignite seams in the peninsula where is one of the basic
metallic and industrial mineral potential regions in Turkey. Chemical and mineralogical
analyses were performed on thirteen clay samples from different lignite beds. The XRD
analyses show that while kaolin group minerals are dominant in almost all areas,
especially middle and western parts of the peninsula, smectite group clays are mostly
observed in the eastern part. Alkaline feldspar, plagioclase, quartz, micas and mixedlayered
clays were other determined minerals. The contents of major elements were
detected by XRF method and the analyses exhibit that SiO2 and Al2O3 are the main
components in all deposits. SiO2 ratio is between 55.0% and 64.5%, while Al2O3
percentage is 16.5% – 25.5% in general. The contents of K2O, Na2O, CaO and MgO
change in low range. Titanium oxide (TiO2) ratio is up to 1.3%. Iron oxide (Fe2O3) is
changing from 0.5% to 6.5%. In spite of the fact that SiO2 and Al2O3 concentrations are
suitable for industrial usage, because of undesirable substances. The presence industrial
important is controversial.

Keywords: clay, coal, geochemical property, usage potential, Biga Peninsula