The website comes as the rural lobby is putting increasing pressure on the O’Farrell government to tighten approvals processes for the granting of mining and exploration leases on agricultural land.

"We're launching www.landusefacts.com.au in response to misinformation that is out there about mining and the state's land use," NSWMC chief executive Stephen Galilee said.

"Actual mining operations account for just 0.1% of NSW land, compared to 76% for agriculture, 3.7% for forestry and 1.8% for urban and rural residential. Mining does not and cannot happen in the state's national parks, which account for 7.6% of state land."

Galilee said the website was particularly relevant in the context of the misinformation being propagated about the NSW government's new strategic regional land use policy.

"The state's minerals industry has consistently advocated a fact-based approach to planning and land use. However, the overblown rhetoric and misinformation from anti-mining political groups is only designed to talk down mining and derail the land use planning process," he said.

We hope this new website will contribute to responsible discussions about the facts, because our state's future is far too important to be decided upon anything less.

"We've maintained a good working relationship with the agricultural sector over many years. These land use plans shouldn't be about choosing between one industry or another – responsibly developed and properly regulated, all industries should be able to co-exist and prosper.

"And perhaps most significantly, mining and minerals processing generates approximately 93,000 direct jobs across NSW and supports an additional 325,000 jobs indirectly."