The firm is to carry out a review of its mines and while it refused to rule out mine closure, it said there would be no job losses.

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She said it was the authority's job to assess the proposals and decide if the mine would be in the public interest, or if it could be located outside the national park.

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However, there was still "a glimmer of hope" about the mine's future as the firm had not said it would be completely closed, said Mr Kitchen.

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