The main industrial types of liquid by-products from the metallurgical industry, (impregnation and binder grade tars and anthracene oils) were evaluated as precursors of graphene materials by their graphitization, oxidation and subsequent exfoliation. Impregnation-grade tar and anthracene oils successfully produce graphene oxides with sheet sizes and exfoliation yields which depend on the crystalline size of their parent graphite. Although binder grade tar can also been transformed into graphene materials, the quinoline insoluble particles present in its composition modify the oxidation mechanism of the graphite and the exfoliation of the graphite oxide, decreasing the yield of the graphene oxide prepared from this by-product. These results represent a useful guide for evaluating the conversion of coal liquid residues into a much higher added value product such as graphene. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.