The announcement comes despite the NSW Minerals Council’s social media-harnessing campaign to voice support for the Drayton South extension project.

Concerns about the project’s chances skyrocketed after the Mining & Petroleum Gateway Panel determined it would significantly impact two Hunter Valley horse studs and a winery on December 10.

“We are persevering to secure state government approval for Drayton South but as a result of the delays with the approvals process we have run out of time to achieve the overlap we needed to keep the entire workforce employed while we developed the project,” Drayton mine general manager Clarence Robertson said.

“Regrettably, with the change in roster we will be reducing the number of crews at site by one and taking out some equipment, which will mean some job losses and redundancies are likely.”

While the planned number of redundancies was not revealed, Robertson said his goal was to keep as many people employed as possible.

He said Anglo had faced more than six months of delays as a result of the prolonged approval process and called the Planning Assessment Commission’s report on the project a disappointing outcome.

“We have lodged our detailed response to the PAC’s conclusions with the Department of Planning and we continue our efforts to secure the necessary project approval without further delay,” Robertson said.

“For now, the next steps for us will be determining the detail for the roster changes we need to implement and starting formal consultation with the relevant people.

“We understand this is a difficult time and we are providing our employees with assistance and support.

“We will keep everyone updated every step of the way and in the meantime, our focus will be on maintaining safety at the Drayton operation.”

Drayton has a workforce of about 500 people.

The extension project aimed to boost the mine life by 27 years and was targeting 7 million tonnes run of mine through open cut and highwall mining.