The paper deals with an approach to the choice of equipment and technological schemes for the extraction of coal seams of different bedding by excavators of high specific productivity. A wide variety of mining and geological conditions for the coal seams bedding in the quarry fields of Kuzbass (Western Siberia, Russia) determines the use of a variety of high-performance excavation (rope and hydraulic shovels, hydraulic backhoes, draglines) and transport (dump trucks, railway trains, draglines) equipment used in various technological schemes. The problem lies in the choice of the excavator type and the technological scheme of its use for extracting coal from seams with different dip angles and thickness within the boundaries of one quarry field in order to achieve maximum productivity and economic efficiency of the entire site development. This article substantiates the analysis of the present and promising coal mining technologies using mechanical shovels, draglines and hydraulic backhoes in order to determine the optimal technological schemes for specific conditions. The basic principle of the proposed idea is to ensure the maximum ratio of the excavator's actual performance and unit costs, taking into account geological conditions and coal loss during extraction. In this regard, based on the analysis, the article presents recommendations for choosing a technological scheme when replacing equipment based on mining and geological conditions. Under certain circumstances, the analysis may result in a recommendation for a complete replacement of the excavator fleet. The advantage of the presented method, along with computational efficiency and visualization, is the applicability for the analysis of technological schemes of any complexity, which makes it possible to use it for the design of sections that develop complex-structured coal deposits