This paper discusses analysis of the innovative activities of mining companies in the years 2016–2018 against the background of innovation active industrial enterprises. In addition, reference is made in the article to the previous findings and research in the field of the level of innovation of mining companies. Despite the fact that the mining industry belongs to traditional industries and is considered to be not very innovative, it undertakes innovation activities necessitated by the need to bring the coal-fired power generation to market competitiveness, ensure industrial safety of miners and environmental protection. In recent years, mainly process innovations have been introduced, which is due to ongoing industry-restructuring processes. Despite the risks, the industry should recognise the opportunities in the current situation and try to use them for further innovations. The main objectives of the energy sector included in the Program for the hard coal mining sector in Poland should be pursued particularly through building new knowledge and innovation intensive competitive advantages. The implementation of clearly defined directions of innovation strategy in accordance with the provisions of the documents governing the Mining of Hard Coal section in Poland will enable its later functioning, country's energy independence and competitiveness of the national economy.

The innovative concept of the vacuum railway—high-speed transportation system has for many years aroused great interest of people dealing with the issues of modern and effective transport systems. Transport scientists and engineers see this technology as a great opportunity for modern societies, at the same time, struggling with many difficult and still unsolved problems. This article presents partial results of the research carried out to assess the feasibility and legitimacy of implementing this technology in Poland. Particular attention was paid to the research methodology for estimating the demand for passenger capsules used for the transport of people in hyperloop (HP) technology. The authors also presented the results of using this methodology to determine the investment outlays for HP capsules intended to handle passenger traffic on selected routes planned in Poland. The authors’ contribution is an innovative approach to determining the demand for passenger capsules, the investment outlays, and the maximum capacity depending on parameters such as, for example, the sequence time or travel time of capsules on one of the future HP routes in Poland.

This article focuses on the analysis of the structure and cost of capital in mining companies. Proper selection of appropriate levels of equity and debt capital funding of investment has a significant impact on its value. Thus, to maximize the value of the company, the capital structure of the company should be composed to minimize the weighted average cost of capital. T he objective of the article is to present the capital structure of selected Polish and world’s mining companies and estimate their cost of equity and debt capital. In the paper the optimal capital structure for the Polish mining company (KGHM SA) was also estimated. It was assumed that both Polish and world’s mining companies, have no debt exceeding 45% in the financing structure. For the most of analyzed cases, the level of financing with debt capital is in the range between 10% and 35%. T he cost of equity exceeds the cost of debt capital and is in the range between 8% and 20%, while the cost of debt capital reaches the range between 1.9% and 12%. T he analysis of the optimal capital structure determining, performed for the selected mining company, showed that debt capital funding for the company should be in the range between 5.7% and 7.4%.

The article presents one of the most commonly used approaches to management, namely process approach and process manage - ment. This problem is quite complex due to the number of processes carried out by hard coal mining enterprises. The classification of processes according to three categories such as: management processes, core processes and supporting processes is discussed. Attention is paid to the efficiency and effectiveness of the process and the measures used to manage these processes. The cognitive goal of this article was to gain knowledge about the use of process management in hard coal mining enterprises. The aspects selected by the authors concerned the analysis of the processes carried out by these enterprises. In particular, the process of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Management and “Environmental Protection” (EP) has been analyzed. Their input and output elements are presented, as well as exemplary measures of their effectiveness.

The article undertakes research in the field of analyzing the similarity of Member States in terms of parameters characterizing the level of development of energy markets. Internal energy integration within the European Union requires transformation of energy systems towards the production of ecological energy, which is a challenge for the economies of many countries. Therefore, the article shows a significant level of diversity in the energy markets of individual countries, which indicates the possibility of differentiating the set ecological goals to be achieved by 2030. Multidimensional analysis was used to select groups of similar countries. Data were collected for 2018 for nine diagnostic variables. The research resulted in six clusters of countries similar to each other in terms of the level of development of energy markets.