Planning in a mining enterprise is a complex and multifaceted action. For this reason, it is necessary to provide its proper organisation and adjust it to the specific conditions of conducting underground mining extraction. The prepared plans must make up a cohesive internal system, unambiguously determining the manner, range and safety requirements of the conducted extraction. In the most general manner, the various types of plans developed by organisational units of mining enterprises can be divided based on the timeframe, type, scope and object of planning. These are strategic plans, tactical plans and subject-based plans. The aim of the article is to present the issue of production planning in a mining enterprise and for the preparation of such a plan, first and foremost, information about, among other things, applicable legal regulations, market conditions and the specificity of a mining enterprise are necessary. Underground extraction of black coal deposits must be conducted while respecting the rules of sustainable development which satisfies current needs, without compromising the ability to satisfy the needs of future generations. Due to the specific nature of mining production, manifested, among other things, by such features as the diversity of conditions for conducting the activity, resulting from the changing geological-mining conditions of the deposit, low flexibility of the production process, associated with the impossibility to conduct alternative production and a very long-lasting investment process, planning the course and magnitude of production in a mining enterprise must proceed with the highest possible diligence. One should take into account a wide range of presented environmental, organisational and technical conditions, deciding about the safety and correctness of the course of the assumed production activities. However, in order to make them economically feasible and produce satisfying results in that regard, it is also necessary to analyse them carefully with respect to financial outcomes

In order to fully adapt to market requirements, mining enterprises in recent years have implemented standardized systems for quality, safety and health at work and environmental management. The standards for individual systems define the requirements of applying specific procedures and actions to implement the adopted policy aimed at achieving the assumed goals. The combination of business procedures and practices is more effective in the case of their integration than the activities carried out under separate systems. They then function under the name of an integrated management system (IMS). Properly implemented IMSs most often contributes to a more harmonious functioning of the enterprise and the elimination of recurring activities in the areas concerning individual systems, and thus to the optimization of costs related to their implementation and maintenance. Improving the operational efficiency of the mining enterprise and mines included in it, while maintaining the requirements of work safety and environmental protection. In the conditions of a market economy, improving the efficiency of functioning and providing sources of business financing is a key necefity for mining enterprise (Bąk 2007, 2008). Mines need to be properly managed to survive. The key problem is the design and implementation of an efficient management system and its continuous improvement based on the adequacy of system solutions. This is an answer to the question whether the management system of a mining enterprise (mine) corresponds to its real needs in the process of achieving objectives. Improvement of management systems must be based on an appropriate diagnosis. The aim of the article is to present the original solution, which is a tool for improving the integrated management system in Polish mining enterprises.

All the restructuring programs that have been implemented in Polish bituminous coal mining as a primary way to reduce mining costs relied on the increased concentration of mining operations. Those efforts especially involved a significant simplification of existing or newly developed structures for accessing or cutting the deposits intended for extraction; implementation of advanced mining technologies, and upgrading of machines used in mine faces. However, in order for these to deliver the expected results, it is important to organize mining operations in such a way so that those advanced, and usually very expensive, mining-related fixed assets – machinery and equipment – are used sensibly. In order to define a reasonable production capacity of each longwall face, it is necessary to apply various criteria related to the mining and technical aspects, occupational safety, and organizational and economic aspects. Only then will it be possible to evaluate the expected effects in the field of concentration of mining in a mining company and in the mines which form part of such enterprises. Decisions in this respect should always be made at the planning stage, based on analysis results. The aim of this article is to explore the factors involved in concentration-related decision-making in mining companies, including the underlying mining/technical, organizational, and economic/ /financial aspects. A mining company is understood as a group of related mines, the primary business operations of which include bituminous coal mining, processing, and trading.

In Poland, there is a growing awareness of the need to change the sources of electricity and heat. An expression of this is the adoption of the document entitled Poland’s Energy Policy until 2040 (PEP 2040) in February 2020 by the Council of Ministers. The goal of the Polish Energy Policy until 2040 is “energy security – ensuring the competitiveness of the economy, energy efficiency and reducing the environmental impact of the energy sector – taking into account the optimal use of own energy resources”. In PEP 2040, the previous assumptions of the state’s long-term energy policy were amended and an increase in the use of low- or non-emission sources was declared. In addition, the energy policy guidelines contain forecasts for the production of steam coal and the demand for this raw material. Based on the provisions of the document, as well as forecasts of the coal-production volume prepared by the authors and the assessments of experts in the fields related to energy and mining, the article contains considerations on the validity of the developed forecasts together with the determination of the production capacity of domestic mining enterprises in terms of covering the demand for steam coal used for the production of electricity and heat. It is planned, inter alia, that blocks of coal-fired power plants will be decommissioned and, in their place, there is to be the expansion of solar and wind energy and the commissioning of the first blocks of a nuclear power plant. Such activities, which cause a decrease in the demand for coal, are also related to the plans of changes in the functioning of mining enterprises – there will be successive closures of individual mines and mining plants.

In Polish mining enterprises, mining exploitation processes are often carried out in much more difficult geological and mining conditions. At the same time, underground operation must be carried out in accordance with the legal requirements concerning work safety and public safety. In these circumstances, taking into account the fact that hard coal mining is by nature a less competitive industry, it should be stated that in Poland managing a mining enterprise is a real challenge. Additionally, in the situation of the functioning of mining enterprises in the conditions of the market economy and constant changes in the economic situation for coal, both on the domestic and foreign markets, the degree of management difficulties, including planning and decision making, is constantly increasing. This is a result of not only the specificity of mining production processes, but also the need to conduct effective economic activity in a constantly and dynamically changing environment. During the implementation of changes in a mining enterprise, the variety of conditions often increases difficulties in the change forecasting system and generates a high risk of implementing adaptive measures. The changes may have a different scope – from gradual, aimed at improving the activities carried out or slowly adapting to changes in the environment, through changes in implemented processes, to radical changes in functioning, often associated with organizational changes.This article aims to present the method of managing a mining enterprise, Poland Grupa Górnicza SA, established during the period of significant changes that took place at that time, both in the company itself and in the hard coal mining industry.

A significant problem with the effective functioning of the hard-coal mining industry, especially in relation to mining enterprises and mines located in the Upper Silesian Coal Basin, are the high costs of mining. This is due to many reasons, among which, an important aspect is the ineffective use of the working time of mining faces. The unsatisfactory use of working time caused by unplanned shutdowns of mining faces is a significant reason for the fact that the use of the production potential of the expensive, modern mechanized systems built in them, with the production capacity of around 1,000–1,500 tons per hour, is relatively small – the average daily volume of mining from a longwall working is most often around 3,000 tonnes or even slightly less. A significant reason for this is the occurrence of a large number of interruptions in the continuity of their work, which is mainly caused by equipment failures, the impact of unfavorable geological and mining conditions or technological shutdowns.
The article deals with the problem of the unsatisfactory level of the effective use of working time in mining faces (longwalls) in Polish hard-coal mines. The main reason for this is the occurrence of a large number of unplanned stops and interruptions, sometimes lasting several days. Their elimination or at least reduction would significantly contribute to the improvement of the existing situation. The condition for this, however, is reliable analyses aimed at detailed the identification of their causes. It was proposed to use three methods – the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), the development of the Pareto-Lorenz diagram and the 5 Whys method. Examples of their practical application are also presented.

According to various sources, between approximately 8.5 and even 10 million tons of Russian coal entered Polish market in 2022, which was mainly used for heating purposes by heating companies and private households (especially in the northern regions of the country). A ban on the continuation of these imports requires the identification of other sources of fuel – these could be either imports from other countries or an increase in mining volumes by domestic mines. However, both of these alternatives require a certain amount of time to be realized. Finding new foreign suppliers entails new contracts, which can be all the more difficult as many other countries, like Poland, no longer want to buy Russian coal. And then there is the issue of negotiating appropriate prices.
A possible decision to increase domestic mining is linked to other problems. This requires, first and foremost, that new portions of the deposits that could be mined be made available and cut in advance, which often entails several years of underground roadworks and significant financial outlays for their implementation and for the appropriate technical equipment of the newly prepared mining faces. With appropriate financial support from the state, this may be possible but not in every mine as there are a number of other considerations that determine the volume of extraction that can be achieved, particularly if there is a desire to increase it.
The aim of this publication is to present, analyse and identify factors that directly influence the volume of hard coal production, taking into account the dynamically changing market environment.