Seventeen Albanian brown coals were analyzed in detail and their properties were compared on both a national and regional basis. The measurements made were moisture, proximate and ultimate analyses, sulfur forms, bituminous matter. humic acids and specific energy, plus Gray-King and free-swelling tests. Linear correlations were derived amongst these coal properties on both dry and dry-ash-free basis. The resulting equations would allow the prediction of many coal properties from a limited number of experimental measurements. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.