The Hunter had reached the most consequential economic crossroad in its history, a public hearing into Glencore's massive Hunter Valley Operations (HVO) extension project has heard.
And the outcome of the company's application to continue mining through to the 2040s would have a significant impact on which path the region's economic and social transition takes in coming decades.
Branxton's community hall overflowed on Thursday with hundreds of supporters and opponents who attended the first of a two-day Independent Planning Commission (IPC) hearing into the proposal.
HVO general manager David Foster told the hearing that the jobs of 1500 workers were dependent on the project being approved.
An economic assessment found the project, which is widely supported within the Hunter community, would bring an overall net benefit of $5.69 billion to the state's economy.
"Given BHP has announced the closure of Mount Arthur in 2030, and Yancoal recently announced the upcoming closure of Ashton Underground with another 250 jobs, the continuation of this economic anchor is now even more important," he said.
"The project has been through six years of scrutiny. We've made numerous changes to minimise the impacts and meet rapidly changing policy on greenhouse gas emissions."
The HVO continuation project - a joint venture between Yancoal (51 per cent) and Glencore (49 per cent) - seeks to extend the operational life of its north and south coal pits at Lemington from 2027 until 2045 and 2042, respectively.
An earlier proposal sought an extension of 25 years to 2050 for the north pit and 15 years to 2045 for the south pit.
However, the project was scaled-back last year after environment groups urged federal Environment Minister Murray Watt to reject the project.
Speaking before the hearing Lock the Gate national coordinator Georgina Woods argued that every tonne of greenhouse gas produced from the mine was worsening the impact of global warming.
"It's a price that the people of NSW are already paying too high a price for," she said.
"The cost of living is being driven up by global warming and that will intensify if this project is allowed to go ahead and tip the world over into dangerous levels of global warming."
Speaking in defence of opponents of the project from outside the Hunter, Ms Woods said all NSW residents shared an equal stake in preventing global warming.
"NSW can't afford the HVO continuation project," she said.
"(Government) models show that NSW is not on track to meet its own commitments to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and protecting the people of this state from 1.5 degrees of global warming," she said.
"We're outside the bounds of what we're trying to achieve, and this project is contributing at least 14 per cent of the gap between where NSW wants to be and where it needs to be in five years' time."
Fourth-generation farmer Sophie Nichols, who lives near HVO, also attended the hearing with a sample of the produce that her family sells to high-end restaurants.
She said the continuation project represented the biggest setback her family's operation had ever experienced.
"We talk about a transition away from mining but we can't talk about a transition away from food," she said.
"This mine will have a direct impact on what I can produce into the future. As a young farmer, I cannot comprehend farming in a climate that is worse than it is today.
"HVO with its emissions will have a direct impact on how the Hunter feeds itself. I am deeply concerned that after five generations, it will be my generation that cannot continue that farming legacy and provide food and fibre to our community."
A few metres away, Maitland local Paul Watters explained that HVO had supported his career and family for the past 25 years.
"The roles that we have at HVO allow you to live within 15 to 20 minutes of the site, so you can come home to your family every night. It means a lot to a lot of people," he said.
Mr Watters said a refusal of the continuation project would have disastrous economic and social effects for himself and other locals.
"It would have massive knock-on effects for places like Branxton and Singleton and Muswellbrook," he said.
"HVO does a lot for the community; HVO donated the money and labour to turn a vacant lot into a play space for kids just here. Things like that mean a lot to me and the community."
The continuation project has the backing of Singleton and Muswellbrook councils.
In a passionate address, Muswellbrook mayor Jeff Drayton told the hearing that the Hunter was standing at the "most consequential economic crossroad in its history".
He said the HVO application along with the Mt Pleasant Optimisation Project, which has stalled due to a High Court challenge, were critical to the stability of the Hunter's economy.
"Muswellbrook and Singleton do not experience these projects as isolated approvals. We experience them as one regional economy, one labour market, one housing market and one set of family incomes," he said.
"If either project does not proceed, the impact on our communities will be serious. If both do not proceed, in the same window of time, this region will face an economic and social shock without precedent felt in mining jobs, in contractors and small businesses that service this industry in housing, in retail and in the family budgets of thousands of households across Muswellbrook and Singleton."
But Mr Drayton emphasised that the council did not want the region to be dependent on coal forever.
Rather, projects such as the HVO continuation were a runway to reposition the region's economy.
He cited the example of the recently announced Mount Arthur Coal post-mining land use pilot project as an example of how the council was working with state and federal governments to turn a former mine site into a master-planned industrial site for the next phase of the region's economic development.
"That pilot depends on a functioning regional economy to fund it, resource it, and give it time to succeed," he said.
"HVO's continued operation is part of what keeps that runway open."
