While the company awaits the outcome of the Independent Planning Commission's (IPC) review into their plans for the mine its financial future is now under a cloud.

Yesterday AQC announced to the Australian Stock Exchange that their Canadian based investors Stellar Natural Resources had failed to meet conditions of their sale agreement.

In August last year AQC said it had executed binding transaction documents with a subsidiary of Stella Natural Resources to form the Dartbrook Joint Venture - injecting some $20 million into the project.

This agreement has now been terminated effective on July 4. Without that $20 million from the the sale of the shares questions must arise about how the project will be funded.

In the company's announcement to the ASX it states they have recently been in discussions with other potential development partners in relation to their interest in recommencing underground mining at Dartbrook.

AQC's executive chairman and managing director, John Robinson Jr, has previously described Stellar Natural Resources as the company that would provide the expertise in mining for Dartbrook as his company has no previous mining experience.

This total lack of mining expertise is just one of many concerns for Upper Hunter residents and the thoroughbred industry in opposing the reopening of the mine.

Dartbrook was placed in care and maintenance by its previous owners Anglo American in 2006 who sold it to Trepang Services in 2016. Trepany Services is owned by Nick Paspaley and John Robinson is the biggest AQC shareholder.

The modification plans now being considered by AQC are to operate a bord-and-pillar operation in one seam - the Kyuga seam - and to extend the life of the mine by five years to December 2027.

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Friends of the Upper Hunter 's Kirsty O'Connell said the company's CEO John Robinson promised to answer serious questions raised by the community at a public meeting in Aberdeen on April 7 within a week - three months and a lot of emails later and he still hasn't.

"The company said it had a development partner that would provide the finance and the expertise that they're lacking - now that's fallen through," she said.

"This is critical. Australian Pacific Coal have made no secret of the fact that they have no mining experience. They made it clear that they were relying on Stella Natural Resources to supply that expertise and now that deal has gone up in smoke.

"Three people have already died at this mine and one of the world's leading miners walked away from it. How can this company deal with the issues that beat a far more experienced company without their development partner?

"We've alerted the Planning Commission to this news as we think it's very relevant to the decision they're currently making as to whether Australian Pacific Coal should be given permission to re-open this very risky mine so close to town and so close to the Hunter River."