INTRODUCTION TO A METHODOLOGY OF COST MANAGEMENT IN A COLLIERY FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF LONGWALL LIFE CYCLE

Abstract

The main objective of the article is to present the basic assumptions of the methodology of cost management adjusted to the specificity of underground mining production. In order to achieve the stated objective, the article begins with the characteristics of mining production conducted by a longwall system. Next, there is cost analysis and assessment of the longwall life cycle with the inclusion of the launch, exploitation, and liquidation phases. The phases creating the cycle indicate the course of the basic production process of hard coal. On the basis of the conclusions drawn from the research conducted and the diagnosis of the cost management condition in Polish mining enterprises, the basic requirements are there to formulate the cost management for an underground hard coal mining plant (colliery). These became the grounds for elaborating the basic assumptions of methodology of cost management in the context of longwall life cycle. The present cost accounts were an inspiration for examining the methodology; notably the most useful accounts for hard coal mining are: the cost account in the longwall life cycle, an activity-based cost account, a target-cost account, and a continuous-improvement cost account. It is assumed that particularization and development of the presented assumptions will determine:
 total and unit costs of particular longwalls’ functioning,
 costs for longer perspectives than in a balance sheet year, in a depiction of particular longwalls as well as the whole colliery,
 total and unit costs in a process depiction,
 the excavation effectiveness from particular longwalls, and
 the effectiveness of particular processes that are a part of mining production.
Currently, the methodology is being tested and developed in the largest Polish mining enterprise, which consists of 15 collieries.