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COAL-WASTE LABORATORY INVESTIGATION <br />When wetted by rain and snowmelt, coal-refuse may leach trace <br />elements into local surface and groundwaters. For this reason, <br />laboratory tests were initiated on samples of coal-waste to iden- <br />tify and quantify the trace elements that are likely to leach and <br />mobilize from typical wasted material. <br />The coal-refuse that is discharged to waste disposal includes <br />fines from the washing plant and coarse material consisting pri- <br />marily of low-grade coal with lesser amounts of associated impure <br />shale debris. Representative samples of washing plant fines and <br />coarse waste from the present disposal pile were collected and <br />returned for testwork. <br />Testwork Description <br />Approaimatsly 20 pounds of the low-grade coal-waste (Sample <br />no. P 0318-1&2) and about 10 pounds of the impure shale (Sample <br />no. P 0318-3) were recovered as sample of the existing waste pile. <br />Another 10 pounds of washing plant fines were obtained from a <br />nearby, active settling pond (Sample no. P 0318-8). A split of <br />each individually composited sample was air-dried for ~2 hours <br />and crushed, if necessary, to -~ inch. A screen analysis of the <br />dried washing plant fines indicated the material to be about <br />31 percent -100 mesh. <br /> <br />7 <br />