MORE than one billion tonnes of raw coal have been stripped from the Hunter in the past decade, handing the State Government a $3.1 billion silver lining.
Stacked in cubic metres, that's enough coal to wrap around the Earth's equator 27.7 times.
University of NSW head of mathematics and statistics Anthony Dooley has confirmed the calculation.
He said the colossal coal pile would reach the moon and back, fill 341,000 olympic swimming pools, two Sydney Harbours and 13,400 coal ships.
The staggering figures have reignited calls for the State Government to invest more funds in the region, which supports the highly profitable mining industry.
NSW produced a record 181.7 million tonnes of raw coal in 2008-09, with the Hunter accounting for about 80 per cent.
State Government royalties gained from the region increased five times in the past decade, bringing NSW's mineral royalties for the past financial year to $1.28 billion.
The NSW Minerals Council said the royalty contribution effectively halved the state deficit last year and it has backed calls for more investment in coalmining towns.
"The NSW Minerals Council believes that mining regions should benefit from publicly funded investment, which ensures local infrastructure and services keep pace with the growth of regional economies and the needs of their communities," a spokesman said.
The Hunter Business Chamber said the Hunter's traditional 4 per cent share of the state budget was nowhere near fair. "All of this wealth comes out of the region and goes straight down the F3 to Sydney," chief executive Peter Shinnick said.
"Given it has 10 per cent of the state's population, 10 per cent of the budget should come back."
Muswellbrook Mayor Martin Rush said funds were needed to maintain infrastructure.
He said it was beyond the capacity of Muswellbrook shire to support the roads needed to service its eight state-significant mines.
"A B-double consumes the life of a road at 6000 times the rate of a car," Cr Rush said.
"The Federal Government makes a $700,000 contribution to local roads here each year the state makes none."
Board of Hunter Councils chairman, Dungog Mayor Glenn Wall, said Hunter councils had lodged a submission to the State Government to get a better deal for mining communities.
"It [State Government] must balance what's in the nation's best interests and what's in our community's best interests," he said.
Unless the State Government ensured the wellbeing of rural communities affected by the "unprecedented intensification of coalmining", residents would fight the expansion of the local coal industry, Cr Rush said.
"That will have impacts for the region, including the city of Newcastle," he said.
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