U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                              Washington, DC 20549

                                     FORM 3

            INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES

    Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
       Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or
               Section 30(f) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

________________________________________________________________________________
1.   Name and Address of Reporting Person*

Slone                                   Deck                 S.
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   (Last)                            (First)              (Middle)

CityPlace One, Suite 300
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    (Street)

St. Louis                       Missouri                        63141
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   (City)                            (State)                (Zip)

________________________________________________________________________________
2.   Date of Event Requiring Statement (Month/Day/Year)

04/26/01
________________________________________________________________________________
3.   IRS Identification Number of Reporting Person, if an Entity (Voluntary)


________________________________________________________________________________
4.   Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol
Arch Coal, Inc. (ACI)

________________________________________________________________________________
5.   Relationship of Reporting Person to Issuer
     (Check all applicable)

     [_]  Director                             [_]  10% Owner
     [X]  Officer (give title below)           [_]  Other (specify below)

Vice President - Investor and Public Relations
________________________________________________________________________________
6.   If Amendment, Date of Original (Month/Day/Year)


________________________________________________________________________________
7.   Individual or Joint/Group Filing  (Check applicable line)

     [X]  Form Filed by One Reporting Person

     [_]  Form Filed by More than One Reporting Person

================================================================================
             Table I -- Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned
================================================================================
3. Ownership Form: 2. Amount of Securities Direct (D) or 1. Title of Security Beneficially Owned Indirect (I) 4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4) (Instr. 4) (Instr. 5) (Instr. 4) - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ====================================================================================================================================
* If the Form is filed by more than one Reporting Person, see Instruction 5(b)(v). Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly. (Print of Type Responses) (Over) FORM 3 (continued) Table II -- Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities) ================================================================================
5. Owner- 3. Title and Amount of Securities ship Underlying Derivative Security Form of 2. Date Exercisable (Instr. 4) Derivative and Expiration Date --------------------------------- 4. Conver- Security: (Month/Day/Year) Amount sion or Direct 6. Nature of ---------------------- or Exercise (D) or Indirect Date Expira- Number Price of Indirect Beneficial 1. Title of Derivative Exer- tion of Derivative (I) Ownership Security (Instr. 4) cisable Date Title Shares Security (Instr. 5) (Instr. 5) - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Employee Stock Option (Right to buy) 7/23/00 7/22/07 Common Stock 500 27.8750 D - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Employee Stock Option (Right to buy) 7/22/01 7/21/08 Common Stock 750 22.8750 D - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Employee Stock Option (Right to buy) 2/25/00(1) 2/24/09 Common Stock 3,000 10.6875 D - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Employee Stock Option (Right to buy) 2/22/02(1) 2/21/11 Common Stock 2,900 21.9500 D - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ====================================================================================================================================
Explanation of Responses: (1) One-third of the shares are exercisable on such date with the rest becoming exercisable (a) one-half one year later and (b) one-half the following year. /S/ Janet L. Horgan May 10, 2001 - --------------------------------------------- ----------------------- **Signature of Reporting Person Date (by Janet L. Horgan, Assistant Secretary attorney-in-fact for Deck S. Slone) ** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a). Note: File three copies of this form, one of which must be manually signed. If space provided is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure. (Print of Type Responses) Page 2