PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Mining giant Rio Tinto has warned that the closure of its Mt Thorley Warkworth coal mine, in New South Wales, would not only affect the 1 300 workers employed by the mine, but also the local communities.

“Last year, the mine spent more than A$180-million with local businesses across the four local government areas,” said Rio Tinto Coal Australia MD Chris Salisbury.

He pointed to new research that demonstrated that local community support for the continuation of mining at Mt Thorley Warkworth had increased in the past year, with more than 64% of the 511 residents surveyed expressing support for the operation.

This was a 7% increase on a 2013 survey.

“This research shows it's not just the 1 300 workers at Mt Thorley Warkworth who support this mine having a strong future. These results clearly demonstrate that the local community supports this mine, with the jobs and economic benefits it provides,” Salisbury said.

Rio would lodge new planning applications for the Mt Thorley Warkworth operation after the New South Wales Court of Appeal refused an appeal against the New South Wales Land and Environment Court’s decision to overturn a 2012 development consent for the extension of the project.

The current approvals would only allow the project to remain operational until the end of 2015, with production already being reduced to around 11-million tonnes during 2014.

Salisbury has previously pointed out that the new proposals that Rio was putting forward included a range of upfront measures that go above and beyond the existing comprehensive programme to manage impacts from Mt Thorley Warkworth mine.

"These upfront measures include an offer to provide more than 1 800 ha of land towards a national park, A$4-million towards a significant regeneration programme for the Warkworth Sands Woodlands and ironbark ecological communities, and a A$500 000 for training and employment programmes aimed at youth in the Upper Hunter."

The new proposals would allow the Mt Thorley Warkworth mine to continue operations until at least 2035.

Salisbury said this week that the new proposals needed urgent approval in order to secure the long-term future of the mine, the workers and the regional communities.