ST. LOUIS  (June 27, 2005) - Arch Coal, Inc. today announced that Paul A. Lang has been elected president of Arch's western operations and president of Arch Western Resources LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Arch Coal. In this new capacity, Lang will have responsibility for all of Arch's mining operations in the western United States. He will report to John Eaves, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Arch Coal.

"We are pleased that Paul has accepted this significant new role with the company," Eaves said. "Under Paul's leadership, Arch's Black Thunder mine in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming has grown into one of the world's premier mining assets, with a safety, environmental and productivity record that is second to none. We believe Paul is the ideal person to lead our western operations into the future as we seek to operate the industry's most cost-competitive mines while capitalizing on the robust growth in demand for clean-burning western coal."

Arch Western Resources is comprised of the Black Thunder and idle Coal Creek mines in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming, and four large underground mines in the Western Bituminous Region of Colorado and Utah.

Gene DiClaudio was named president of Arch's Western Bituminous Region operations in August 2004 following Arch's acquisition of the remaining 35% of its Utah subsidiary, and he will continue in that capacity. DiClaudio has responsibility for the West Elk longwall mine in Colorado; the Sufco and Dugout Canyon longwall mines in Utah; and the North Lease longwall mine at the Skyline complex in Utah, which is currently in development. "Gene has done a tremendous job of integrating our Utah and Colorado mines into a seamless operating unit and applying best practices across these highly productive operations," Eaves said. DiClaudio will report to Lang.

A native of Utah, Lang joined Arch in 1984 and had served as general manager of Arch's Powder River Basin and southern Wyoming operations since 1998. Prior to that time, he had held various engineering, operations and management positions at Arch's operations in both the eastern and western United States. He graduated from the University of Missouri-Rolla in 1983 with a B.S. in mining engineering and is a licensed professional engineer in several states.

St. Louis-based Arch Coal is the nation's second largest coal producer, with subsidiary operations in West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, Wyoming, Colorado and Utah. Through these operations, Arch Coal provides the fuel for approximately 7% of the electricity generated in the United States.