Promises are one thing the Hunter, NSW’s largest coal mining region, is not short on.

They include new jobs, the return of steel making to the old BHP site (26 years after it closed), the resumption of passenger train manufacture (13 years after it ended) as well as the proposed renewables precinct at the Mount Arthur Coal Mine, 5 kilometres south of Muswellbrook.

Glencore/Yancoal has also promised the state government that an extension of its two open-cut mines, Hunter Valley Operations (HVO) North and HVO South, will guarantee existing jobs. This is despite it sacking of 60 workers at the Mount Owen mine in 2014, shortly after being given approval to increase production.

Glencore wants the NSW Independent Planning Commission (IPC) to allow extend the life of HVO North and South until 2045 and 2042, respectively. The mines operate across the banks of the Hunter River, along the Golden Highway near Singleton. Submissions to the IPC close on August 5 and it is expected to make a decision in September.

If the IPC rejects Glencore/Yancoal’s application, HVO North mine will close in December, affecting around 700 jobs as it produces 38% of the combined output of both mines.

HVO South, with around 800 workers, has a licence to operate until 2030.

“Continuation” approval by the IPC would pave the way for the largest coal mine in NSW’s history to be created. It would produce 400 million tonnes (MT) of coal, generating 800 MT of climate pollution annually.

The proposal is controversial in the Hunter because it poses the questions in a binary way: are jobs or environment protected?

This has led to mine........

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