Consequently, the determining authority for the Drayton South coal project application should place little if any weight on the Review Report, Anglo American said.

“The Secretary's Environmental Assessment Report dated August 2015 should be preferred for its robust assessment of the Project impacts and reliance on cogent, independent evidence in recommending that consent be granted for the project,” it said.

Anglo American commissioned Dr Greg Houston to undertake an independent expert assessment of Coolmore and Darley's claims that the Project would cause them to leave the Hunter Valley and the PAC Review Report finding that this would cause a terminal decline in the Upper Hunter Equine critical industry cluster.

Houston considers that it is extremely unlikely that the project would cause Darley to leave the Upper Hunter because it is in Darley's strategic, operational and financial interest to maintain its operation in the Upper Hunter.

Similarly, it would not be in Coolmore's interest to leave the Upper Hunter; and • even in the unlikely event that Coolmore and Darley did leave the Upper Hunter, the equine CIC would not be under threat, according to Houston.

The response will be rigorously assessed by the Department of Planning and Environment alongside the Commission’s review and all public submissions under strict NSW Government rules and policies, the Department of Planning said.

Once the Department has finalised its assessment report, it will be referred to the independent Commission for a final decision.