Environmental activists were gearing for costly campaigns that they hope would convince Australia to gradually abandon mining, which they claim would bring economic and ecological destruction over the long haul.

Australia's economy is anchored heavily on its resources industry and economists noted that the country has largely eluded the worst of the last global financial crisis because of its mining boom, another phase of which is underway.

The country has been attracting large orders of coal, iron ore and natural gas coming from China and India but Greenpeace is convinced that the federal government may be overlooking the ills of high-scale mining.

The activist group, according to The Australian, is all set to wage its million-dollar war against mining in the country.

Mega mining activities, Greenpeace said, destroys farmlands and pollutes water reservoir and in the long-term act as one of the major polluters that accelerates climate change.

In an interview with ABC on Tuesday, John Hepburn of Greenpeace Australia said that environmental activists have a solid case against mining.

"We're looking at mega-mines that would increase Australia's coal exports two or threefold within the next 10 years, with massive impacts on our best farmland, on our groundwater aquifers, on the global climate," Mr Hepburn said.

He added that mining's economic benefits were seen not to trickle down on the national economy, with only a select sector benefitting from the resources boom.

"They're also having a big negative impact on the economy, destroying jobs in manufacturing, agriculture and tourism," Mr Hepburn stressed, adding that the fight against the so-called mega-mines is completely legitimate.

The group also warned that delaying decisive actions at this time will prove detrimental to Australia's long-term interests.

"If we fail to act decisively over the next two years, it will be too late to have any chance of stopping almost all of the key infrastructure projects and most of the mega-mines," Greenpeace was quoted by Agence France Presse (AFP) as saying.

But the Australian government viewed the report as a proof that Greenpeace is bent on acting irrationally and destructively in order to push forward its agenda of disrupting mining activities in the country.

Trade Minister Craig Emerson called the plan as reckless and irresponsible, pointing out that for the world to stop mining altogether would mean "global depression and mass starvation."

"The idea of flicking a switch from coal and other fossil fuels to renewable energy cannot be done," Mr Emerson told AFP.

"And (Greenpeace) ought to wake up to that, instead of living in a fantasy land and organising these sorts of campaigns," he added.

The minister also noted that federal authorities have been doing its share in ensuring that the environment will be protected amidst the steady mining projects that Australia hosts, citing the carbon tax that takes July this year.

It will serve as a precursor for Australia's emission trading scheme, which mr Emerson said will be adopted by 2015.

Miners called the Greenpeace plan as 'economic vandalism' but Prime Minister Julia Gillard has assured them that the government remains supportive of the industry.

"The coal industry has got a great future in this country. We've made that clear all along. You're seeing that future being built now as we see expansion in our coal exports particularly," AFP reported Ms Gillard as saying in a statement directly address to Australian coal producers.