Peabody shuffles senior management on eve of reorganisation

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – The largest US coal miner, bankrupt Peabody Energy, on Wednesday announced that its Australian president Charles Meintjes has been promoted to executive VP for corporate services and chief commercial officer.

George Schuller Jr will succeed Meintjes as the president for the Australian business segment.

Both positions will report to Peabody president and CEO Glenn Kellow as part of a six-member executive leadership team.

Meintjes’ role will be effective following the company's re-emergence from Chapter 11 reorganisation. He will return to Peabody's global headquarters in St Louis, Missouri.

Peabody will seek US Bankruptcy Court approval in St Louis on Thursday for a plan to cut more than $5-billion in debt and exit Chapter 11 in April.

Peabody last week announced that it had arranged for $1.26-billion in third-party bonds and $14.5-million in a state bond pool in Indiana, one of the states where it held self-bonds, to fully satisfy its financing requirements, to end its use of controversial self-bonds.

The largest US coal companies have used a federal practice known as self-bonding for many years, exempting them from posting bonds or other securities to cover the cost of returning mined land to its natural state, as required by law.

Concerns over how Peabody would finance about $1-billion in self-bonds when it emerges from bankruptcy protection have led a series of complaints over its reorganisation plan. Kellow said last week he was pleased with the bonding solution, but left the door open to using self-bonds again in the future, should circumstances warrant.