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Peabody Energy today announced that John C. Hull has been named Director of Sales and Western Transportation for its COALSALES subsidiary, effective Aug. 15, 2008. Hull will be responsible for managing all transportation functions, including contracts, projects and communication with rail and transportation services for Peabody's seven Western mines in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming. He will report to COALSALES President Bryan A. Galli.

Hull joined the company in May 2007 as Director of Sales and Marketing. Prior to that, he held numerous positions with Rio Tinto America and Kennecott Utah Copper in their sales and marketing, business development, operations, engineering and financial management areas. Hull has 30 years of experience in the mining industry. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Mining Engineering from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and an MBA from Nova University in Florida.

Hull succeeds Michael R. Rayphole, who is retiring in October. Rayphole joined the company in 1994 as Director of Transportation and Customer Service for Peabody's Western operations. He has also served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the Powder River Basin. He has 40 years of engineering, operations and transportation experience in the coal industry. He has also served as past president and is currently a board member of the National Coal Transportation Association.

"Mike has been extremely influential in leading the overall U.S. coal transportation growth and performance, including numerous process improvements that have enabled Peabody to provide more than 175 million tons per year of rail-delivered coal from our Western operations," said Galli.

COALSALES is the nation's largest coal marketer and serves more than 340 electric generating stations and industrial customers.

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.

Use of the words "Peabody," "the company" and "our" relate to Peabody, our subsidiaries and our majority-owned affiliates.

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SOURCE: Peabody Energy