| Abstract: | The industry in perspective, the pattern of future coal demand, and the implications of and constraints associated with sustained high growth. While the physical availability of coal resources is not foreseen as a problem, the requirement for both manpower skills and financial resources is likely to be substantial and could constitute a constraint on the required rate of expansion of the industry. Considerable managerial attention will need to be directed at the optimal utilisation of these scarce resources, so that the coal industry can maintain itself in a healthy, profitable and cost competitive condition to adequately fulfil its future role in the economy. Tab. |