Magro will report to president and chief operating officer Paul Vining and will be responsible for the oversight of Patriot’s Panther and Federal longwall mines as well as its Valley operations, which include the Big Mountain, Wells, Rocklick and Harris complexes.

Panther operations manager Gregory Boggs, Federal general manager and vice-president Blair McGill and Valley mine operations manager Bruce Short will all report to Magro.

A 35-year industry veteran, Magro most recently served as Consol Energy’s vice-president of operations. He has managed longwall, continuous miner, truck-and-shovel, and highwall mining operations across several US coal basins, including central and northern Appalachia, the Illinois Basin and Utah’s Uinta Basin.

"We look forward to his contributions as we continue to enhance the production and safety performance of our underground mines,” Vining said.

“Further, as coal markets rebound and Patriot returns its focus to growth, Jim's broad expertise in designing and developing new mines and in evaluating acquisitions will add valuable insight to our team."