Post Dispatch reported that Patriot Coal Corp. on Tuesday announced that Mr Irl F Engelhardt has replaced Mr Richard M Whiting as chief executive of the struggling coal miner.

Creve Coeur based Patriot provided no reason for Whiting's exit.

Mr Engelhardt, 65, has been chairman of Patriot since the company's spin off from Peabody Energy Corp in the fall of 2007. Before that, he spent 15 years helping build Peabody into the world's largest private sector coal producer.

Mr Engelhardt said in a statement “Our team has successfully navigated the inherent cycles in the energy industry in the past, and I am confident Patriot can overcome the industry challenges that we currently face.”

Patriot's board also named coal industry veteran Mr Bennett K. Hatfield, 55, the company's president and chief operating officer. Mr Hatfield was CEO of International Coal Group Inc. before it was acquired by Arch Coal Inc.

Source - Post Dispatch

(www.coalguru.com)