ST. LOUIS, March 4, 2014 -- The board of directors of Arch Coal, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) today announced two changes to the company's senior management team.

John A. Ziegler, Jr. has been elected chief commercial officer, effective immediately. Ziegler will be responsible for leading all of Arch's sales and marketing efforts, including contract administration and transportation logistics. He will report to Paul A. Lang, Arch's executive vice president and chief operating officer.

"I am pleased that John has accepted this important role with the company," said John W. Eaves, Arch's president and chief executive officer. "During his time as president of Arch Coal Sales, John demonstrated a keen understanding of coal markets and a talent for forging strong and mutually beneficial relationships with our customers. I look forward to his leadership during this period of change and opportunity in the marketplace."

Ziegler most recently served as vice president of human resources and previously served as president of Arch Coal Sales. He joined Arch Coal as director of internal audit in 2002. Ziegler holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from St. Louis University and is a certified public accountant.

In addition, the board of directors has elected Allen R. Kelley to succeed Ziegler as vice president of human resources, effective immediately. He will report to Eaves.

"Allen has made a significant contribution to Arch over many years, and has distinguished himself in a variety of roles," said Eaves. "His strong understanding of the organization, its culture and its evolving needs should serve him well in this new capacity. I look forward to working with him to ensure that Arch has the right people with the right skills to ensure our continuing success in the years ahead."

Kelley most recently held the position of vice president of enterprise risk management and has 25 years of company service at Arch. He holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Missouri -- St. Louis.

U.S.-based Arch Coal, Inc. is one of the world's top coal producers for the global steel and power generation industries, serving customers on five continents. Its network of mining complexes is the most diversified in the United States, spanning every major coal basin in the nation. The company controls more than 5 billion tons of high-quality metallurgical and thermal coal reserves, with access to all major railroads, inland waterways and a growing number of seaborne trade channels. For more information, visit www.archcoal.com.

Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains "forward-looking statements" -- that is, statements related to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address our expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," or "will." Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. For us, particular uncertainties arise from changes in the demand for our coal by the domestic electric generation industry; from legislation and regulations relating to the Clean Air Act and other environmental initiatives; from operational, geological, permit, labor and weather-related factors; from fluctuations in the amount of cash we generate from operations; from future integration of acquired businesses; and from numerous other matters of national, regional and global scale, including those of a political, economic, business, competitive or regulatory nature. These uncertainties may cause our actual future results to be materially different than those expressed in our forward-looking statements. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. For a description of some of the risks and uncertainties that may affect our future results, you should see the risk factors described from time to time in the reports we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.