Illawarra Coal president Colin Bloomfield has announced his decision to leave BHP Billiton to spend more time with his family.
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The father of three said yesterday he had been thinking about what he wanted to do with his life for some time and made up his mind earlier this year.
His replacement will be Illawarra Coal's head of projects and engineering Troy McDonald.
Mr McDonald, 37, will take over the role on July 1 after 15 years at Illawarra Coal.
Mr Bloomfield will stay on until the end of August and is confident of a very smooth transition.
He said he was only 38 when he was appointed president in 2004.
But come September, the man affectionately known in the industry as Blossom expects it may take some adjusting to life after 27 years in the industry.
"I am committed to the Illawarra," he said. "I love it here. All my kids were born here. One thing I want to do is stay very engaged in the Illawarra business community."
Mr Bloomfield said it was a good time to change as the business was doing well.
"We are producing at record levels and all the work we have put in over many years is really paying off," he said.
"Troy has been part of that right through. The business still has lots of room to grow. Troy is the best man for the job.
"He brings a depth of experience to the role along with business qualifications, including an MBA from Wollongong uni."
Mr Bloomfield said he had some tremendous memories.
"I was part of the team that put the deal together for the BHP Billiton merger," he said.
"And I was the project manager on the integration of BHP and Billiton."
But another career highlight for Mr Bloomfield was leading the Illawarra Coal team during the past eight years.
Over that time, employment has grown by 500 jobs.
He was particularly pleased by the results the company had achieved during the past 12 months.
"I think everyone who works in this company is really proud of what we have achieved," he said.
Mr McDonald said it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be promoted to such a role.
From July 1, he effectively becomes the boss of 1400 employees and 1000 contractors.
He said the company under-invested in the late 90s and he felt it was about halfway through the present reinvestment cycle.
"We have got a lot more to go over the next five years," he said.
"We have some projects in the pipeline that are exciting and over the next five years it is going to be full steam ahead to deliver those projects. There is a lot of opportunity there for coal to really capitalise on that investment and that is not far away."
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