The company’s new director of underground mines for its Midwest Group is Thomas Benner, who will work under Illinois and Indiana operations group executive Charles Burggraf. In his new role, Benner will oversee day-to-day mine operations including safety and environmental management.

He will also be responsible for evaluating strategic growth opportunities for its underground operations in the two states. A graduate of Illinois State University and Washington University in Missouri, Benner joined Peabody in 2005.

Peabody has appointed Christopher Hagedorn to the position of supply chain management vice-president. Working under executive vice-president and chief administrative officer Sharon Fiehler, he will manage purchased goods and services quality and cost while developing strategies for comprehensive global procurement.

Hagedorn joined the company in 2006 as business performance vice-president, when he managed the Peabody Peak Performance initiative, or "P3", to reach “best-in-class performance” in its business functions. He graduated from both Washington University and the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Reporting to Peabody Australia chief financial officer Gregg Wickstra, Lance Throneberry has been appointed the general manager of supply chain management for Peabody's Australia operations. He was hired to the seat of supply chain management vice-president in late 2006, and holds degrees from Eastern Illinois University and Denver University.

Jeffrey Maher will also report to Fiehler, having been tapped to Peabody’s vice-president of business continuous improvement seat. In his new role, Maher will manage the development and execution of strategies for business process improvement across Peabody’s functions; he will also oversee the producer’s Enterprise Resource Planning program.

A 25-year veteran of Peabody, Indiana State University and University of Evansville-educated Maher most recently served as its director of enterprise resource planning integration.

The company also made two other changes to its executive line-up: Antonnette (Toni) Jackson will become Peabody’s new vice-president of compensation, also reporting to Fiehler, while L Cartan Sumner Jr will serve in the role of international government relations vice-president under government relations senior vice-president Fredrick Palmer.