A low-rank Slovak sub-bituminous coal from the Handlova deposit was physically treated by washing in a water-only cyclone with the goal to find the separation effect for inorganic (mainly Fe-bearing minerals) and organic substances (humic acids, diterpanes). A high-quality coal product with the ash content in the dry matter of 9.02% and carbon content of C(d) = 68.12% at a mass yield of 29.51% was obtained using the water-only cyclone processing. At first, the physically treated coal samples were detailed characterized by XRD, (57)Fe Mossbauer spectroscopy, FT-IR and HR-TEM. In addition to non-crystalline organic coal components, inorganic compounds belonging to silicate minerals (kaolinite, muscovite and quartz) as well as to Fe-bearing sulphide minerals (pyrite) were identified in the sub-bituminous coal by XRD. (57)Fe Mossbauer spectroscopy detected the presence of iron carbonate (siderite), iron-containing clay mineral and two sulphur-containing minerals (pyrite, jarosite) in the untreated coal. On the other hand, only one Fe-bearing mineral, (pyrite) was found in the washed coal. Effect of the physical separation is also demonstrated in FT-IR spectra, where the peak at 1040 cm(-1) representing the silicate component in the untreated sample is not detectable in the washed coal sample. Presence of extractive organic substances, i.e. humic acids and tetracyclic diterpane (16 alpha(H)-phyllocladane), in the hydrocyclone products is also evidenced. It was confirmed that the isolated diterpenoic compound is attendant in the washed product with the lowest ash content and it is assimilated with the organic part of coal. Surprisingly, humic acids were found in the highest concentration in the slurry that has the highest content of ash (63.14%). (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.