Newcastle thermal coal was already bringing record prices above $US260 ($356) a tonne - an extraordinary turnaround given the market's mid-2020 low of $US50 ($68) or less for the best quality Newcastle product.

Analysts say the market for Newcastle coal futures - an order to buy the product at a later set date - has more than doubled since the start of the year, as concerns over sanctions take hold.

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Russia has been producing about 400 million tonnes of coal a year, and last year exported a reported 225 million tonnes, with 57 million tonnes of that going to China, making up almost 18 per cent of China's coal imports.

Australia, by comparison, has been mining about 450 million tonnes a year, with most of that going to export.

The big rises in coal prices over the past 18 months are reflected in the annual results of Chinese-backed Australian miner, Yancoal, which last week reported a 2021 after-tax profit of $791 million, which it described as "a pleasing reversal from the $1.04 billion loss" in 2020.

Yancoal's results continue a run of strong earnings results for the coal sector, which has surged as big players including BHP and Rio Tinto sell some or all of their mines, with various banks and insurers unwilling to lend or work with coal companies on the back of climate change concerns and ESG (environmental, social and governance) shareholder activism.

With demand for coal outstripping supply, prices have stayed higher for longer than many analysts originally predicted, with Australian Coal Report putting last week's spot price for high-quality 6000-kilocalorie Newcastle thermal coal topping $US262 ($358).

Yancoal has five operations exporting from Newcastle - Ashton, Moolarben, Stratford/Duralie, and its two NSW powerhouses - an 81 per cent stake in Hunter Valley Operations and 51 per cent of Mount Thorley/Warkworth - both bought from Rio Tinto in 2017.

Documents filed with the stock exchange for the year to December 31 show those NSW mines with a workforce of about 3730 employees and contractors.

It also owns Yarabee open-cut and 50 per cent of the nearby Middlemount open-cut, both in Queensland's Bowen Basin, employing about 890 people between them.

Results for the year to December 31 filed with the stock exchange show revenue of $5.4 billion, a 56 per cent rise from the 2020 figure of $3.47 billion.

The Australian-listed subsidiary had struggled to make a profit in recent years and was heavily indebted to its Chinese parent company, Yanzhou Coal Mining.

But in last week's results, Yancoal said its record revenue and profit results had allowed it to repay $US500 million ($685 million) of debt ahead of schedule, to resume paying dividends to shareholders and to "significantly" cut its gearing ratio to 24 per cent.

Prices for both steelmaking coking coal and power station thermal coal have risen to record highs since mid-2020.

The Hunter's main product, thermal coal, has been trading above $US250 ($340) a tonne, compared with its August 2020 low below $US50 ($68).

Coking coal - always more expensive than thermal coal - has gone from $US100 ($137) a tonne to more than $US430 ($590).

Chief executive David Moult said COVID and the wet weather from La Nina had an impact on production but these and other supply constraints internationally had combined to drive prices higher, which Yancoal expected to persist for the coming months, at least.

Yancoal put its average "realised sale price" for thermal coal at $134 a tonne, 76 per cent above the 2020 average of $76.

About 15 per cent of its output was coking coal, which saw prices rise 45 per cent from $124 to $180 a tonne.

But these prices are well below the market now, indicating Yancoal's next half-yearly results could be even stronger.

Saleable production at Yancoal's seven operations totalled 48.5 million tonnes, with its share (accounting for joint venture partners at some mines) was more or less flat at about 37 million tonnes.

Operating cash costs rose 14 per cent from $59 a tonne to $67, with the coal industry - like others - experiencing supply chain and labour issues that are stoking inflation fears in the United States, particularly.

"Achieving $67 a tonne operating costs was a good outcome in the context of a challenging year." Mr Moult said.

"Low-cost production and a record average realised price of $141 a tonne delivered an implied . . . margin of $63 a tonne after government royalties (were paid)."

Gunnedah-based Whitehaven, operator of Maules Creek, also claimed record prices, revenue and cash generation in its results, reported a week before Yancoal's.

They included an after-tax profit of $340.5 million from $567.4 million in cash generated by its mining operations.

Whitehaven claimed an average thermal price of $US146 ($200) for the six months to December 31, compared with $US55 ($75) for the corresponding half-year in 2020.

Its coking coal price was $US155 ($212), for a combined record average return of $202 a tonne.

In other coal news, Katie Brassil, who left Centennial Coal in December after more than 15 years with the company as its general manager of external relations, will join the board of the privately owned Bloomfield Group, operator of the Bloomfield and Rix's Creek mines, starting in April.

Bloomfield chairman John Richards said Ms Brassil would bring diversity and outside experience to the board.

Ms Brassil is also a non-executive director of the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service, having joined the board in 2011, and she joined the board of Wests Group in 2018. She stood down from the board of the NSW Minerals Council in December, having joined in March 2019.

Ms Brassil described Bloomfield as a "respected and longstanding Hunter success story" and said she remained "passionate" about the mining industry.

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