The company - owned by South32 - pleaded guilty in proceedings brought on by the Resources Regulator.

During a night shift on July 8, 2019, Jeff Rapley was working near a device called a scraper conveyor.

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An opening in the machine was only covered by mesh, which could not be seen by Mr Rapley.

He placed his foot there and it got stuck in the gears of the machine.

He managed to pull hit foot out of his shoe but found the scraper conveyor had taken off the entire sole of his right foot.

In court last month, Endeavour Coal pleaded guilty and was fined $300,000; the miner was given a 25 per cent reduction on what the judge decided an appropriate penalty of $400,000 for the early plea.

Mr Rapley is pursuing a separate case in civil court.

While pleased with the admission of guilt, Mr Rapley was disappointed the fine was well below the maximum $1.5 million that could have been levied.

"Based on the submission by the prosecutions that the level of culpability was at the higher end of the scale and, more importantly, the potential it had for a fatal outcome," Mr Rapley said.

"Let's not forget the Resources Regulator flagged that as a level 4, which is a potential for fatality.

"I thought that the penalty would be a lot more significant than it was. I expected it would be up around the $1-$1.5 million mark."

For the court case, Mr Rapley tabled an 11-page victim's impact statement, which he said he opted not to read aloud because "I didn't think I'd be able to keep my composure".

In it, he delivered a rebuke to the way he felt he had been treated by South32.

"Whilst the accident that occurred that evening could quite easily have claimed my life, so too could the way that I have been disregarded ever since by your silence which has been deafening," his statement read.

Elsewhere, he wrote of his declining mental health "which was also exacerbated by feelings of abandonment by the mine owner, South32, representatives of whom to this day have failed to make any contact with me to enquire on my health or the health of my family or offer any type of support."

He said he was "enraged" to read in the newspapers claims from South32 that they had offered their support to him when he had not been contacted at all.

He had two toes amputated and "the remaining toes serve no effective function as they have no sensation, are rigid and have zero flexion, nor do they even make contact with the ground".

His statement also lists the seven hospitalisations and four surgeries he has undergone as a result of the incident and its medical complications.

As a result of his injuries, Mr Rapley cannot return to mining and has struggled to find other employment - he knows his choices were extremely limited.

In a statement, a South32 spokesman said their thoughts were with Mr Rapley.

"Nothing is more important than the safety of our people and we deeply regret this incident," the spokesman said.

"We acknowledge and accept the court's findings in relation to this incident.

"We are committed to providing a safe workplace and after this incident occurred we reviewed the circumstances and implemented a number of safety improvements to prevent such an accident occurring again."

It was also claimed that Illawarra Metallurgical Coal's (IMC) Vice President Operations made contact with Mr Rapley after the incident and this was followed up with further contact from IMC.

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