I honestly haven't a clue as to the purpose of these chips yet, they could possibly have to do with the Ebon Panels in the Palace & Garden but no relavent data has been gathered yet, or they could possibly be pop items for "New Gods" for the New armor.
Argghh.. So many possibilitys...
For those who have No clue what the heck i'm talking about:
http://ffxi.somepage.com/itemdb/7696 <-- Charcoal Chip