Coal-Mac president and general manager Gary Bennett will now become the Arch’s eastern operations president while mine manager J Chris Sykes will now become the Coal-Mac’s general manager.

Shanks’ retirement is effective on March 30.

He was with Arch for 35 years.

Arch president and chief operating officer John Eaves said Shanks played a role in many major events that made the company what it is today and noted that Bennett’s “firm grasp” of the central Appalachian region will serve him well in his new role.

Shanks joined Arch in 1976 as a hydrologist after earning a master’s degree in civil engineering from Purdue University and, throughout the course of his career, has either worked at or was associated with every one of the company’s operating divisions.

In addition to his operations management experience, Shanks also was involved in the Diamond Shamrock acquisition, the 1993 BCOA-UMWA contract negotiations, the Arch Mineral-Ashland Coal merger and the Atlantic Richfield Coal Company acquisition.

Bennett, a graduate of West Virginia Tech , joined Arch as a senior engineer in 1990.

Over his 21-year Arch tenure, he has held various engineering and operating positions in West Virginia, Missouri and Kentucky.

General managers from all four of the producer’s eastern operations and the various staff functions in Charleston, West Virginia, will report to Bennett, who will in turn report to operations senior vice-president Paul Lang.

Sykes, a 14-year coal industry veteran, is a graduate of Virginia Tech and the University of Charleston.

He most recently served as Coal-Mac’s mine manager, and will now report to Bennett.