Trace Elements in West Virginia Coals

Arsenic (As) Summary Statistics

The histogram of arsenic abundances in all West Virginia coal beds shows a distribution skewed to very low values with a mean of 17.13 ppm (± 38.52 ppm) on a whole coal basis. Arsenic contents greater than 100 ppm occurred in a few coals and isolated arsenic contents up to 727 ppm have been observed in the Harlem coal (see cautionary notes page). Despite published relationships between arsenic and pyrite, arsenic correlated only mildly with pyritic sulfur, but correlated better with total sulfur, and mercury (Hg). Arsenic also did not correlate with ash yield.

**Spearman Correlation Coefficients (r) with Arsenic**
Ash Yield	Total Sulfur	Pyritic Sulfur	Hg
+0.2643	+0.7006	+0.4864	+0.5971
n = 842	n = 842	n = 543	n = 808

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Page last revised: March 1, 2002

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