The Cr and Ni contents are high in the Eocene lignite of the Shenbei coalfield, which is a small intracontinental basin located in Liaoning Province, China. In this paper, we studied the distribution, origin and occurrence of Cr, Ni and other hazardous trace elements in the Shenbei lignite on the basis of coal petrology, and geochemistry of the lignite and combustion products. The following conclusions on the Shenbei lignite can be drawn: (1) The dominant maceral group in the Shenbei coal is huminite (humodetrinite), accounting for 96%-99% of the total maceral. Inertinite content is less than 1%. Liptinite content (sporinite and cutinite) is 0.2-1.6%. Common minerals in the Shenbei lignite include clay minerals (kaolinite), pyrite and quartz, and calcite and siderite. Chromite is not present in the lignite. (2) Potentially hazardous trace elements such as Co (22 mug/g), Cr (79 mug/g), Cu (63 mug/g), Zn (93 mug/g), V (88 mug/g) and Ni (75 mug/g) are strongly enriched in the Shenbei lignite compared with average concentration of trace elements in the Chinese coal and worldwide lignite. These elements are mainly associated with fulvic acid (FA) and/or coal organic macromolecular compounds in most of the studied lignite samples, indicating an organic association and enrichment of these elements in the Shenbei lignite. (3) Unusually high trace elements contents in the Shenbei lignite are derived mainly from the olivine basalt (country rock of coal basin) that consists of 52.7% plagioclase, 17.8% pyroxene, 14% olivine and 15.5% Ti-Fe oxide minerals. These olivine basalts have higher Cr, Ni, Pb and Zn contents than other types of rock and worldwide basalts do. (4) Fly ash of the Shenbei lignite, with 90% 1-50 mum amorphous particles and 8% 1-10 mum cenosphere, has high contents of Zn (23,707 mug/g), Be (12 mug/g), Sr (1574 mug/g), Ph (486 mug/g) and Cr (349 mug/ g). In particular, the ferruginous micro-cenoshperes contain 1-12.79% Zn. Fine bottom ash (< 0.031mm) ofthe Shenbei lignite has hieher contents for most of the elements with the exception of Mo, Sri and Zn. Therefore, the potentially environmental and health impact of the fly ash and fine bottom ash should constitute a major concern. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.