The 44-page bound book, published annually, provides a county-by-county run-down of production throughout the nation's second-largest coal producer. It also provides the bottom line on severance taxes paid, reserves and permits.

"This is a terrific publication that is a valuable tool for people in our industry and people that want to know about our industry," said West Virginia Coal Association president Bill Raney.

"We do our best to make sure Coal Facts contains just about anything a person would want to know about coal production in our state."

According to the association, 48,720 of the state's residents worked in coal mining in 2006, 13,511 of whom worked underground. The top producing county in West Virginia was Boone, with 32.8Mt of production, and the top operator was Consol, which mined 17.9Mt during the year.

Additionally, West Virginia once again was second after Wyoming for total production across the US. Also last year, coal was responsible for 99% of the state's electricity generation.

"All of these statistics reveal the overwhelmingly positive impact our people have on West Virginia, its economy and its people," Raney said.

"It is tremendous testimony to their work ethic and their accomplishments."

Other facts included in the association's compilation of data for 2006:

The state provides 50% of all American coal exports;

West Virginia leads all other US states in underground coal production; and

Coal represents more than $US3.5 billion of the state's gross state product (GSP), or about 13% of its total.

The West Virginia Coal Association, established in 1915, represents all types of coal mining throughout the state and its member companies make up about 80% of the state's total production. Some members include Arch Coal, Consol Energy, PinnOak Resources, Magnum Coal and Alpha Natural Resources.

Check out more facts from the book in the December edition of American Longwall Magazine.