Peabody Energy Announces Organizational Changes in Operations Management

Reporting to Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Eric Ford in new positions are: Group Executive forPowder 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

SOURCE Peabody Energy

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