The appointment of the 30-year industry veteran is effective March 26.
Current Westmoreland chief executive officer Keith Alessi, who joined the producer in 2007, will remain in his post.
King was formerly the executive vice president for business advancement and support services for Consol Energy and CNX Gas, a position he had held since January 2009. Prior to that he was the company’s senior vice president of administration
Before joining Consol in 2006, King, a graduate of Utah State and the Colorado School of Mines, worked for PacifiCorp affiliate Interwest Mining, where he was vice president of operations and engineering, as well as general manager for Centralia Mining.
“The addition of Bob King as president and chief operating officer rounds out our executive team that will continue to grow Westmoreland,” board chairman Richard Klingaman said.
“His broad leadership experience in the coal industry will add depth to our strategic vision.”
Consol CEO Brett Harvey added: “Since Bob joined Consol in 2006 as president of CNX Land Resources, he has contributed his engineering and managerial expertise to our leadership team by overseeing several divisions of the company. Bob was instrumental in developing the framework of some recent partnerships that have transformed Consol Energy into a leading diversified fuel producer and we are grateful for his guidance in that process.”
Westmoreland Coal is the oldest US independent coal company. Its operations are located in the Powder River Basin of Montana and Wyoming, and it holds lignite mining operations in Montana, North Dakota and Texas.
