ALS Coal's Petrography Laboratory provides routine coal petrographic services and is dedicated to providing accurate and timely results. The laboratory's testing capabilities include:
- Vitrinite Reflectance
- Maceral Analysis
- Coke Micro-texture Analysis
- Mass Balance Equations
All employed petrographers have a scientific background to at least a Bachelor's Degree level and all petrographers are involved in internal round robin exercises. Further, each petrographer is a regular participant in the ICCP (International Committee for Coal Petrology) Accreditation Exercise and participate in meetings of Australia's Coal Petrography Group.
With regards to vitrinite reflectance analysis the laboratory produces surfaces on the petrographic block that are second to none. They also have a range of synthetic reflectance standards, including the Klein & Becker YAG R=0.89 standard (the same standard used by the International Committee for Coal Petrology) to ensure that the results produced are of the highest quality.
The laboratory also analyses coke samples which, when combined with coal petrography, allows calculation of the amount of fusible inertinite in a coal via mass balance equations. It also performs autopsies on coke samples to provide an indication of the precursor coals and can analyse char samples, environmental samples and domestic briquettes.
The laboratory is also available for more challenging petrographic tasks associated with coal and its utilisation products. The purpose of this is to meet customer's need for high quality petrographic services. Interpretative reports can be prepared identifying coal contamination in samples and identifying coal region.