A UK bituminous coal has been used to study dernineralization by two-stage chemical leaching. The first-stage uses hydrofluoric acid (HF) at 65 degrees C and reduces the ash content from 5.30 wt%/ to 1.37 wt% by mainly removing Al and Si containing minerals. Subsequent leaching by ferric ions decreases the ash content further to 990 ppm by removing most of the pyrite and fluorides formed during the HF leaching. Calorific value of the coal shows no change following leaching, which suggests no oxidation is occurring to the coal carbonaceous matrix. The mercury and sulfur contents after the two-stage leaching sequence decrease by 40% and 26%, respectively. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.