Currently, coal mining as well as practically all leading industries requires such management specialists who are able to solve new tasks in complex and constantly changing conditions. The paper highlights the ways to contribute to the formation of future specialists' competencies to satisfy the demands of present-day labour market. The paper aims to uncover some underpinning competences of coal-mining engineers in addition to technical skills presented as a Top Ten Transversal Competences' Checklist for Coalminers (TTTCCC). This paper takes the form of a discussion relating to the needs and requirements of English language education of a modern coal-mining engineer in Russia. Some examples of low efficiency in university English for Specific Purposes (ESP) teaching bring to a number of possible solutions in and outside the mining university language classrooms.