Trace Elements in West Virginia Coals

EUROPIUM (Eu)

Europium is one of the rare earth elements (REE) present in West Virginia coals with little environmental impact.

Geologic Distribution: Europium occurs in minor amounts in the trace minerals monazite and allanite ¹. Monazite was found in trace amounts in 22 of 24 coal samples examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in an unpublished study by the WVGES. West Virginia coals contained a mean of 0.33 ppm Eu correlated slightly with ash yield and trace elements related to ash-forming minerals. Europium is one of the REE and correlated mainly with other REE. Europium also displayed no trends in stratigraphic or areal distribution.

Economic Impact: Europium is of no economic impact. Europium is widely used as a red phosphor in color TV tubes ².

Environmental Impact: Rare earth elements, including europium, have no environmental impact in coal mining or utilization ¹.

References:
1. Swaine, D.J., (1990)
2. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics

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Page last revised: March 2, 2002

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