The relationship of germanium concentrations and the thickness of the c8h coal seam of the “Dniprovska” coal mine

Abstract

The research devoted to the study and analysis of the influence of the thickness for the с8н coal seam of the Dniprovska coal mine on the content of germanium and elaboration of an objective (natural) typifying of the coal seam areas of different thickness according to the element’s concentration. The study is based on the data set of 370 samples of germanium and other impurity elements (so called "small elements") as well as measurements of seam thickness, ash content and sulfur content of coal performed in the central certified laboratories of geological production and exploration enterprises of Ukraine derived from the matter of formation samples obtained by production and research enterprises and companies. In order to bring the samples to the same scale, the raw data were normalized. In order to achieve the purpose of the study laboratory and statistical methods of research were applied, taking into account and interpreting the obtained results in terms of geological concept. During the research, the clustering of seam sections of different thickness according to germanium content was carried out using the weighted centroid median method, which was implemented in the statistical software platforms that provided the analysis of the clustering results. The implementation of the approach outlined in the article makes it possible to propose a natural typifying of areas based on the thickness of the coal seam according to the germanium content. The analysis of the modeling results shows that they comply with so-called "Zilbermints’ law", i.e. an empirical regularity that describes enrichment of some elements (predominant germanium enrichment) in the near-contact zones of coal seams. The thickness of such layers usually does not exceed 0.2 - 0.3 m. The novelty of the study is determining of the relationships for the differential influence of the coal seam thickness of the Dniprovska coal mine on the content of germanium as well as development of a natural typifying for areas with different thickness of the seam of the Dniprovska mine according to the concentration of the elements. The practical approach implies method and an algorithm of actions that allow to distinguish between natural seams, seams with similar germanium content as well as genetically related areas, which provides the possibility of the most efficient planning of operational and technological measures and the implementation of their most probable geological and economic assessment, which aimed at extracting germanium from coal. Keywords: germanium, coal seam, regression analysis, cluster analysis, distribution histogram, normalized content.