Leer served the company as CEO from 1997-2012 and as president of Arch Mineral Corporation from 1992-1997. He was elected chairman in 2006.

Wesley Taylor will succeed Leer as chairman. He joined the board in 2005 and was elected lead independent director last year.

Prior to joining Arch, Taylor was president of TXU for 13 years and president of Dallas Power & Light for three, during a 38-year stint at TXU.

Arch also announced executive vice-president and chief operating officer Paul Lang had been elected to the company's board of directors.

In his current role, Lang is responsible for the mining and marketing of Arch's coal production, which totalled 140 million tons in 2013, as well as trading, transportation, corporate procurement and process improvement efforts.