It is generally known that catalytic salts of the same metal exhibit different char reactivities under similar reaction conditions. Whether or not the various compounds exert their influence during catalyst loading from solution is unknown. This paper reports the effects of the acetate, chloride or nitrate of calcium and the acetate, chloride, nitrate, carbonate, or sulfate of potassium on the surface electrical properties and metal loading capacities of a demineralized lignite. Zeta potential results showed that the net negative charge density on the coal particles was reduced by addition of each salt. However, this effect was more prominent for the calcium compounds than for the potassium-containing precursors. Calcium or potassium loading using the ion-exchange technique was strongly dependent on the catalyst precursor and the metal ion. In general, the calcium adsorption capacity was higher than that for potassium under similar solution conditions. The maximum calcium loading occurred from calcium acetate solution whereas approximately the same level of calcium was adsorbed from the calcium chloride or the calcium nitrate solution. The dependence of potassium uptake on potassium salt followed the order : potassium carbonate > potassium acetate > potassium nitrate approximately potassium chloride approximately potassium sulfate. FT-IR spectra have shown that Ca2+ or K+ was exchanged for the protons on the coal surface carboxylic acid functionality. The influence of the electrochemical properties on catalyst dispersion and char reactivity will be discussed in a future paper.