Cochran, in this new position, will oversee Arch’s entire operations portfolio and development projects. He will also join Arch’s senior officer team, which has responsibility over strategy development, policy formation and capital allocation.

He will report to executive vice president and chief operating officer Paul Lang, and will be based out of St Louis.

The graduate of Missouri University of Science and Technology and Harvard Business School was most recently Arch’s western operations group president.

Prior to that, he spent five years as president of Thunder Basin Coal, during which time the complex completed a successful integration of the Black Thunder and Jacobs Ranch operations.

Cochran, who sits on the board of Millennium Bulk Terminals, also worked for TXU for two decades before joining Arch.

“Ken is a proven leader with a tremendous record of success in the critical areas of safety, environmental stewardship and operational excellence," president and chief executive officer John Eaves said.

“He is the ideal person for this new and expanded role, and I am confident that he will lead our operations to an even stronger level of performance in the years ahead.”

Arch also has promoted eastern operations group president Gary Bennett to the seat of vice president of operations support, also reporting to Paul Lang.

This is a good man for suppliers to get to know. He will have senior responsibility for corporate purchasing as well as process improvement and corporate maintenance.

Bennett, who will also be based in St Louis, first joined Arch in 1990 as a senior engineer.

Over his 22 years the West Virginia University Institute of Technology graduate has also worked in various engineering and operating positions with the producer.

“As a longstanding member of Arch's operations management team, Gary has demonstrated strong leadership and management capabilities in a range of different positions,” Lang said.

“I am confident he will be successful in applying these same skills – as well as his dedication to cost control and continuous improvement – to his new role as head of Arch's operations support team.”