Ahead of its full-year earnings conference set for late this month, the company reported that its coal division recorded total production of 16.8 million tons, including 1.2Mt from the Buchanan metallurgical mine in Virginia.

The figure is Consol’s highest of any 2010 quarter and has brought its whole-year production total to 62.4Mt, 4.5Mt of which came from Buchanan.

Looking ahead, the producer said its coal division expected 2011 production of 59-61Mt, and a normal seasonal production pattern with first and fourth-quarter output higher than the second and third periods.

Consol also reported record numbers for its gas division with 36.2 billion cubic feet of production for the quarter ended December 31, a 44% improvement year-on-year from 25.1Bcf.

For the whole year, Consol’s gas production was 127.9Bcf, beating the previous record in 2009 of 94.4Bcf by 35%.

All of Consol’s mines are in the US states of Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia. Like other steel coal companies across the nation, its shares have been on the rise as flooding in Australia has increased US export demand and interest from global customers.