The Hunter and Newcastle coal mining region had its lockdown extended for another week with more cases being identified in the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas.

The lockdown has also extended west to the gold mining areas of Orange and Dubbo, potentially affecting the operations of Australia's largest gold mine, Newcrest's Cadia, on the outskirts of Orange.

Indeed, the whole state has been put under lockdown.

It is threatening to engulf the whole state including coal mining regions in the Gunnedah Basin and base metals mining region in the far west including Cobar and Broken Hill. 

A NSW Minerals Council spokesman said the mining industry across the state had implemented strict COVID-19 protocols to help the mining workforce, mining families and regional communities stay safe during this outbreak.

"Prior to the current lockdown in the Hunter, mining operations had already implemented extensive protection measures in line with advice from NSW Health," he told Australia's Mining Monthly.

"This included enhanced cleaning and sanitation facilities, work from home policies implemented where possible, social distancing in crib rooms and essential indoor areas and strict restrictions on visitors and workers from the Greater Sydney area.

"This has allowed the industry to safely maintain operations.

"In addition to this, the NSW mining industry maintains strict monitoring of on-site personnel, including mandatory sign-in upon site entry.

"Our industry is assessing and strengthening its policies in response to recent outbreaks."

A spokesman for the Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group told AMM it would continue to provide essential services to the coal industry through the Newcastle lockdown.

"We do not expect any impact to NCIG operations as a result of this lockdown," he said.

A Port Waratah Coal Services spokesman said the company was on alert to deal with the issue and had adjusted to operating under a "new normal" in regard to COVID-19 restrictions.

"With cases in the community, we are watching closely and talking to our staff," he said.

"There have been considerable changes to our work practices and we are working carefully and responsibly."

However, the potential toll on the state's mining industry and the importance of Greater Sydney, Newcastle and Illawarra as hubs for the supply of mining products, services and consumables around the country are yet to become evident.

The Hunter is the biggest mining region in NSW.

The NSW Minerals Council's FY2020 annual member Expenditure Survey found the 28 participating mining companies directly injected $6.2 billion into the Hunter economy, supporting more than 13,000 Hunter mining jobs and more than 3400 local mining supplier businesses.

NSW Minerals Council CEO Stephen Galilee said those statistics showed that despite the COVID-19 pandemic last year, mining's contribution to the Hunter economy remained strong, with jobs relatively stable, more direct mining spending, and an increase in the number of Hunter mining supplier businesses.

While the 13,000 Hunter mining jobs supported by NSWMC's member companies was around the same as the previous year, the $6.2 billion in direct spending in the Hunter represented an increase of about $800 million.

In addition, the 3400 mining supplier businesses in the past financial year represented an increase of 126 businesses compared to the previous year.

"The overall improvement in the economic boost for the Hunter provided by our member companies highlights the resilience of our industry during these tough times, keeping our mines operating while maintaining the safety of our miners, their families and our mining communities across NSW," Galilee said.

Business Hunter CEO Bob Hawes said the restrictions had created crippling uncertainty in the region's commercial and industrial sector.

"Business wants to be able submit orders, renew staff rosters, pivot the business to the restrictions and making decisions that will keep their business afloat.," he said.

"They can't do this under the cloud of ‘what will the advice tell us'; when will things return to normal and at what increment; what the vaccination uptake is; and how to protect their businesses from a lack of compliance by individuals still breaching orders.

"People breaking the rules need to be acutely aware that their actions pose unnecessary risk to businesses and communities and the consequences should be absolutely clear.

"I don't see any issue with places of business reporting breaches in movement in our regions because some people are putting our community at risk."

The lockdown of Greater Sydney includes the Illawarra region with its coal mines and its mine supply infrastructure around Wollongong.

In the Illawarra 28 participating NSW mining companies directly injected $847 million into the local economy, supporting more than 1800 Illawarra mining jobs and 510 local mining supplier businesses.

There is a growing belief that NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian will be forced to extend the lockdowns in greater Sydney beyond August 28 with some estimating that it may remain shut until the end of October or when the state reaches the "herd immunity level" of 70% vaccination rates.   

The lockdowns to stop the spread of coronavirus have cost the national economy at least $17 billion over the past two months.

It would be an emergency for the entire national resources industry if Greater Sydney and the Hunter remained under lockdown beyond October.