bituminite is an autochthonous maceral that is a part of the liptinite group in lignite, that occurs in petroleum source rocks originating from organic matter such as algae which has undergone alteration or degradation from natural processes such as burial . it occurs as fine-grained groundmass, laminae or elongated structures that appear as veinlets within horizontal sections of lignite and bituminous coals, and also occurs in sedimentary rocks. its occurrence in sedimentary rocks is typically found surrounding alginite, and parallel along bedding planes. bituminite is not considered to be bitumen because its properties are different from most bitumens. it is described to have no definite shape or form when present in bedding and can be identified using different kinds of visible and fluorescent lights. there are three types of bituminite: type i, type ii and type iii, of which type i is the most common. the presence of bituminite in oil shales, other oil source rocks and some coals plays an important factor when determining potential petroleum-source rocks.