Rocksday

Lignite

Soft brown coal, the youngest and lowest grade, often with visible woody texture.

Lignite specimen
Photo: James St. John, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

How to identify lignite

  • Brown-black and crumbly.
  • Wood grain sometimes visible.
  • Very light; cracks as it dries.

Often confused with

Where it's found

  • Rhineland, Germany
  • Latrobe Valley, Australia
  • North Dakota

Uses

Power generation near the mine.

Rock tumbling

Not suitable for tumbling.

Did you know?

Lignite holds so much water that it's rarely shipped far from where it's mined.

Think you could spot it from a blurry close-up?

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