minerals Article Lithium Enrichment in the No. 21 Coal of the Hebi No. 6 Mine, Anhe Coalfield, Henan Province, China Yingchun Wei 1,* , Wenbo He 1, Guohong Qin 2, Maohong Fan 3,4 and Daiyong Cao 1 1 State Key Laboratory of Coal Resources and Safe Mining, College of Geoscience and Surveying Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Beijing 100083, China;
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[email protected] (D.C.) 2 College of Resources and Environmental Science, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang 050024, China;
[email protected] 3 Departments of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, and School of Energy Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, USA;
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[email protected] Received: 18 May 2020; Accepted: 3 June 2020; Published: 5 June 2020 Abstract: Lithium (Li) is an important strategic resource, and with the increasing demand for Li, there are some limitations in the exploitation and utilization of conventional deposits such as the pegmatite-type and brine-type Li deposits. Therefore, it has become imperative to search for Li from other sources. Li in coal is thought to be one of the candidates. In this study, the petrology, mineralogy, and geochemistry of No. 21 coal from the Hebi No. 6 mine, Anhe Coalfield, China, was reported, with an emphasis on the distribution, modes of occurrence, and origin of Li. The results show that Li is enriched in the No. 21 coal, and its concentration coefficient (CC) value is 6.6 on average in comparison with common world coals.