Similar coal-fired booms have been ignited in the Hunter in years gone by, first in Newcastle and later in the Cessnock district. Indeed, although memories of mining's Lower Hunter heyday are fading, the district is still commonly known as "the Coalfields", hearkening back to a time when it seemed the great underground mines of the area would last forever.

Such booms, while the resource and the market continues to sustain them, bring great and undeniable benefits. Generations of people are sustained by the wages earned from the mines, business empires grow and prosper, government coffers are bolstered and the proceeds are used to provide valuable public services and facilities.

All this is being seen in Muswellbrook, where the latest mining boom has driven down unemployment, driven up property prices and brought the town unprecedented prosperity.

Downsides exist, of course. Not everybody benefits from rising prices, rising rents and rising wages. Non-mining employers have a tough time attracting workers and people without mining-level wages can struggle with the cost of living.

But in general, the benefits of such booms ought to be cheerfully embraced, provided a sensible eye - informed by the lessons of the past - is kept trained on the future.

At some point the coal will be gone and the Hunter's string of coalmining booms will come to an end. Leaders at federal, state and local levels must recognise this and give some thought to the region's post-mining future.

Nobody can accurately predict what lies ahead, but global trends suggest that people of the future may be forced to put a premium on food, water and agricultural production. It would appear wise, in that case, to ensure that the region's agricultural capabilities aren't permanently impaired by pursuit of the short-term, one-off benefits of mining.

Good economics dictates that some of today's surpluses should be invested to guarantee, as far as possible, that future generations can continue to derive some benefits from the mining boom that was.