In the future, Illawarra Coal, the primary metallurgical coal producer in the southern coal fields of New South Wales, will face many unique challenges not found in other coal or minerals production areas. To manage these challenges and determine the best strategy for the business, Illawarra Coal has adopted a systematic strategic planning process, which starts from the broadest possible options analysis and culminates in a go-forward' operating case that individual mine sites use as the basis for short-term planning._x000D_
This paper will discuss two major topics. Firstly an overview of the Illawarra Coal and BHP Billiton strategic planning processes. This will demonstrate the range of variables and inputs that are required for the planning process, and the system which is followed to evaluate different alternatives for the extraction of the resource._x000D_
Secondly, having discussed the primary external and internal factors that must be accounted for in the planning process, and the main issues affecting the viability and likelihood of each alternative, the paper will discuss the particular challenges that Illawarra Coal will face in the coming decades. These challenges include: market and price uncertainty; managing impact on surface features, infrastructure and environment; community interaction; transport and logistics constraints; unknown mining environments; lack of geological knowledge; limited surface access for new mining domains; changing attitudes to longwall mining in the Illawarra; ageing workforce; and cost and overhead management._x000D_
The paper intends to discuss how these issues impact the business currently and how they are incorporated into Life of Asset plans and overall corporate strategy for Illawarra Coal._x000D_
FORMAL CITATION:Ross, J A, 2007. Strategic planning for the future of Illawarra coal, in Proceedings New Leaders' 2007, pp 21-26 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).