The appointment of the 30-year industry veteran is effective on April 15.

Miller is a graduate of Columbia College, the University of California in Berkeley and the Columbia University Graduate School of Business.

He brings to CERX experience in finance and business development, operational analysis, natural resources consulting, strategic planning, new business development, acquisitions, transactional due diligence, risk management, competitive analyses and budgeting and forecasting.

Much of his senior management background has been in the coal and natural resources industry.

The executive was most recently an Alpha Natural Resources VP, where he was a member of the enterprise risk management group and was responsible for implementing a company-wide ERM program following the producer’s June 2011 takeover of Massey Energy.

Miller was also an Alpha treasurer, overseeing cash management, long-term financing and establishing credit policy for the Virginia miner. 

Before Alpha, Miller was the business development VP for Foundation Coal, which merged with ANR in 2009.

He also served as finance and acquisitions VP for DTE Coal Services, business development director for Cyprus Amax Minerals and chief financial officer for Trend Mining.

“Brian brings to our management team a tremendous wealth of knowledge and experience," Colombia Energy president and chief executive officer Ron Stovash said.

“His understanding of the coal marketplace and financial disciplines, as well as his keen ability to negotiate strategic resource acquisitions, aligns well with our efforts to build and develop a world-class portfolio of Colombian coal assets.”

Miller said he was joining CERX at a “pivotal point”

“[The company] has accumulated a high quality portfolio of metallurgical coal assets in the Republic of Colombia, providing an excellent foundation for substantial growth in production,” he said.

“I am looking forward to assisting the company in continuing the process of finding and developing select properties in Colombia, particularly those suitable for implementing modern mining practices that enables them to be mined more efficiently and productively.”

Colombia Energy controls mining concessions over 25,000 acres in the Boyaca region of Colombia.

The San Francisco-based company’s Colombian holdings comprise four metallurgical coal blocks, of which the 226-acre Ruku is the smallest.