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Arch Coal, Inc. (Form: 8-K)  

 

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

     
Date of Report (Date of Earliest Event Reported):   November 14, 2005

Arch Coal, Inc.
__________________________________________
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

     
Delaware 1-13105 43-0921172
_____________________
(State or other jurisdiction 		_____________
(Commission 		______________
(I.R.S. Employer
of incorporation) File Number) Identification No.)
      
One CityPlace Drive, Suite 300, St. Louis, Missouri   63141
_________________________________
(Address of principal executive offices) 		  ___________
(Zip Code)
     
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code:   (314) 994-2725

Not Applicable
______________________________________________
Former name or former address, if changed since last report

 

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

[  ]  Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
[  ]  Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
[  ]  Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
[  ]  Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

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Item 8.01 Other Events.

On November 14, 2005, Arch Coal, Inc. announced an update on the status of its West Elk mine. A copy of Arch Coal, Inc.’s press release is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.





Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) Exhibits.

The following Exhibit is filed with this Current Report on Form 8-K:

Exhibit No. Description
99 Press Release dated November 14, 2005





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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

         
    Arch Coal, Inc.
          
November 14, 2005   By:   /s/ Robert G. Jones
       
        Name: Robert G. Jones
        Title: Vice President - Law, General Counsel & Secretary

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Exhibit Index


     
Exhibit No.   Description
 
99
  Press Release dated November 14, 2005
EX-99

News from
Arch Coal, Inc.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

Media – Kim Link (314) 994-2936

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 14, 2005

Arch Coal Provides Update on Status of West Elk Mine

SOMERSET, Colo. (November 14, 2005) – Arch Coal, Inc. today announced that it does not expect its West Elk mine to resume operations for a minimum of six weeks following a sudden increase in combustion-related gases at the site last week.

“After making good progress in our initial efforts to suppress the heating event at West Elk, combustion-related gases unexpectedly intensified late last week,” said John W. Eaves, Arch Coal’s executive vice president and chief operating officer. “As a result of this increase, we were forced to shut down the mine’s ventilation system and commence more aggressive measures to control the situation.” West Elk is increasing its injections of water, nitrogen, nitrogen foam and carbon dioxide into the affected area via bore holes at the surface.

West Elk personnel are working closely and cooperatively with Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) officials at the site. “The top priority of both Arch and MSHA is to ensure the safety of the West Elk workforce engaged in addressing the situation,” Eaves said. Through the event, the mine has not had any reportable injuries.

As previously announced, the longwall equipment is isolated from the affected area by permanent and temporary seals. West Elk was in the process of moving the longwall to a new reserve area, or “district,” when the initial evacuation of the mine was necessitated. Following the recovery of the remaining longwall equipment, West Elk will permanently seal the old district where the elevated gas levels were detected.

During the outage, Arch will redeploy a number of West Elk employees not currently engaged in other tasks to the company’s three underground mines in Utah.

“We have identified a number of projects at our Utah operations that can be accomplished in a more efficient manner with the assistance of the West Elk workforce,” Eaves said. These projects include the acceleration of work on the new longwall mine at the Skyline complex, as well as previously scheduled efficiency-enhancing projects at both the Sufco and Dugout Canyon operations.

—more—

Arch has property and business interruption insurance and will be filing a claim under its policy as a result of the events at West Elk.

Mountain Coal Company’s West Elk mine typically produces more than six million tons of high-Btu, compliance-quality coal annually. The vast majority of that production is shipped to utilities that use West Elk coal as a fuel for electric generation. The mine expects to deplete its current inventory by the end of November.

St. Louis-based Arch Coal, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) is the nation’s second largest coal producer, with subsidiary operations in West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, Wyoming, Colorado and Utah. Through these operations, Arch provides the fuel for approximately 7% of the electricity generated in the United States.

Forward-Looking Statements: Statements in this press release which are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements within the “safe harbor” provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to, and expectations and assumptions deemed reasonable by, the company. Because these forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those projected in the statements.

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