Maceral Affinity of Phosphorus in Coals from the Elk Valley Coalfield, British Columbia

British Columbia exports about 25 million tonnes per year of metallurgical coal from two coalfields, which follow the Rocky Mountains along the eastern edge of the Province. In the north there are two mines in the Peace River coal&Id and in the south, five mines in the east Kootenay coalfields (Figure I). The east Kootenay coalfields are divided into the Elk Valley, Crowsnest and Flathead fields (Figure 2). Three mines are situated in the Elk Valley coalfield, the most important coal-producing area in British Columbia, and they account for about 15.7 million tonnes of export coal. All the economic seams in the Kootenay coalfields are contained in the Mist Mountain Formation of late Jurassic to early Cretaceous age. Phosphorus in steel reduces its llexibility and is generally considered to be an undesirable element in coal. Most steel mills blend coals to achieve a phosphorus concentration in coal of less than 0.04%. Data collected during this study are not located with respect to any particular mine and the seams sampled are identified by sequential letters from A near the base of the section through the Mist Mountain Formation to near the top. The lettering system does not correspond exactly with the seam numbering in any particular mine, but does retain the relative stratigraphic positions of all the data discussed in this paper.