The company said Herrera, who is a financial adviser and founding member of the firm Estudios y Consultorías SA, brought with her experience in providing regulatory advice in the electric, gas and liquid fuels sectors.

The producer has undergone a number of adjustments this year.

In January an illegal strike at its La Caypa open pit forced an operations halt and ultimately led to a loss of about 75,000 tons of coal production.

Earlier this month, the company confirmed the event was largely the cause of a 12% overall first-quarter production and revenue drop to 317,070t.

Revenues were down 23% to $US28,424 year-on-year during that same period.

At the time, Pacific Coal chief executive Luis Carvajales said if not for the employee blockade, results for the quarter would have been on target.

“We have been proceeding according to plan on both of our producing thermal coal properties, La Caypa and Cerro Largo,” he said.

“Our production and stripping rations would be in line with our full-year 2012 projections had we not experienced unforeseen and unavoidable production disruptions in the first quarter of 2012.

“These disruptions, while handled admirably by our personnel, did cost the company some production.”

La Caypa has an indicated coal resource of 17.8 million tons while Cerro Largo claims an inferred resource of 11.6-21.2Mt of coal.

Canada-based Pacific Coal has ownership or interest in several operating coal mines and projects in Colombia.