Press Releases

Peabody Energy today announced organizational changes in the management of its U.S. coal operations to meet ongoing growth needs and continue to broaden skill sets and management development.

Reporting to Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Eric Ford in new positions are: Group Executive for Powder River Basin Operations Jeane L. Hull, Senior Vice President of Engineering and Continuous Improvement Charles F. Meintjes, and Group Vice President of Operations Kemal Williamson. Also reporting to Ford are Vice President of Safety David A. Beerbower, Vice President of Operational Planning Michael C. Crews, and Managing Director of Australia Operations Dr. Julian Thornton.

  -- Jeane L. Hull will have responsibility for all aspects of the
     operations in the Powder River Basin including the North Antelope
     Rochelle, Caballo and Rawhide mines.  Hull joined the company in May
     2007 as Senior Vice President of Engineering and Technical Services.
     Prior to that, she was Chief Operating Officer for Kennecott Utah
     Copper.  She held numerous management positions with Rio Tinto and
     affiliates and served as Vice President of Operations for Kennecott
     Utah Copper, Vice President of Technical Services and Business
     Improvement and General Manager of Spring Creek Coal.  Prior to joining
     Rio Tinto, Hull spent 12 years with Mobil Mining and Minerals and Mobil
     Chemical Company, including 10 years with a Powder River Basin coal
     mine.  Hull has additional engineering, environmental and regulatory
     affairs experience in the public and private sector.  She has a
     Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from South Dakota
     School of Mines and Technology and an MBA from Nova University in
     Florida.  She is a registered professional engineer.

  -- Charles F. Meintjes will be responsible for the global delivery of
     engineering, environmental, geology, design and construction services,
     as well as continuous improvement initiatives at Peabody.  He joined
     the company in August 2007 as Senior Vice President of Operations
     Improvement.  His previous experience includes consultant to Exxaro
     Resources Limited in Pretoria, South Africa, and former Executive
     Director, board member and Executive Vice President of Support Services
     of Kumba Resources Limited, one of the largest iron ore, coal, zinc and
     heavy minerals mining companies in South Africa.  He also has senior
     management experience in continuous improvement and information
     services with Iscor Limited (now Mittal Steel) and Alusaf Limited in
     South Africa.  Meintjes holds Bachelor of Commerce degrees in
     Accounting from both Rand Afrikaans University and the University of
     South Africa.

  -- Kemal Williamson will be responsible for Peabody's U.S. mining
     operations in the Midwest, Colorado and the Southwest.  Williamson most
     recently served as Group Vice President of Western Operations for
     Peabody.  With more than 25 years of experience in mining engineering
     and operations, he has served as Group Executive for Midwest Operations
     and Group Executive for Powder River Basin Operations.  He joined
     Peabody as Director of Land Management in 2000.  Prior to joining
     Peabody, he held a variety of mining operations positions in Wyoming
     and Australia.  Williamson holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mining
     Engineering from Pennsylvania State University and an MBA from the
     Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

  -- Among those reporting to Williamson is George J. Schuller Jr., in the
     new position of Vice President of New Mine Development.  Schuller most
     recently served as Vice President of Operations Improvement.  He has
     more than 20 years of mining engineering and management experience with
     Peabody.  This includes positions in West Virginia and Kentucky, where
     he served as Mine Manager, Superintendent and Operations Manager at
     Peabody mines.  He also served as General Manager of Operations Support
     and General Manager of Underground Operations for Peabody's Australia
     Operations in Queensland.  He has a Bachelor of Science degree in
     Mining Engineering from West Virginia University in Morgantown and an
     MBA from the University of Charleston.

Peabody Energy is the world's largest private-sector coal company, with 2007 sales of 238 million tons of coal and $4.6 billion in revenues. Its coal products fuel approximately 10 percent of all U.S. electricity generation and 2 percent of worldwide electricity.

   CONTACT:
   Beth Sutton
   (505) 287-2636

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SOURCE: Peabody Energy