Workers have walked off the job at a Whitehaven Coal mine in New South Wales, protesting plans they say will destroy local heritage sites.

More than fifty traditional owners from the Gomeroi people formed a picket line outside the Maules Creek mine this morning, vowing to fight the $767 million project.

Whitehaven received final approvals to begin construction at the site last Thursday following a three-year process.

Traditional landowner Stephen Talbot says the Maules Creek mine will clear more than 4000 acres of culturally significant forestry and artefacts, saying “The forest contains cultural heritage sites, food sources, and totems of our people, and most of them will be permanently destroyed by the planned mine.”

Mr Talbot said “there hasn’t been a proper consultation process, the management plan is flawed and we don’t believe that our people have been treated with proper respect or that our concerns about the destruction of cultural heritage have been addressed.”

Protesters say they will not give up easily, intending to come back in greater numbers each day this week. Mr Talbot has called for all salvage works to be halted until community concerns had been addressed.

Whitehaven is permitted to extract up to 13 million tonnes of coal per annum and rail 12.4 million tonnes from the site each year.