The group said at least 7000 Sydneysiders and 3800 businesses in the capital supplied the mining industry through sectors such as manufacturing, mechanics, environmental science, education and training.

“When most of us think about mining, we envisage people working in regional NSW, but there are also more than 7000 workers employed directly in mining across Sydney,” NSW Minerals Council chief executive Stephen Galilee said in a statement.

“Mining is the fastest growing industry for jobs in NSW having more than doubled its workforce in the past four years to almost 50,000. As mining grows, so too will opportunities for the services and manufacturing sector in Sydney and regional NSW,” he said.

Galilee used the survey data to urge government to consider the mining industry’s influence on the workforce when establishing tax policy.

“The tax burden on NSW mining is also growing and has the potential to stunt the industry’s growth – the carbon tax, mining tax and the reduction in the diesel fuel rebate will all come into force on July 1, 2012, he said.”

“These new taxes and increasingly complex regulation could have a direct and lasting impact on employment in suburbs like Smithfield, Parramatta, Macquarie Park and Castle Hill.”

The NSWMC said the carbon tax alone would cost the black coal industry about $18 billion in 2020 and New South Wales would be the hardest hit state.

The mining organisation also cited modelling by the state treasury which it said showed carbon pricing would reduce state mining industry growth to about 60% of what it otherwise would have been.

“Governments at all levels need to remember that mining in NSW does not operate in a vacuum,” Galilee said.

“We compete for investment dollars with other mining states and our international competitors.”