11/01/2007

Associated Press

The St. Louis-based coal mining company Peabody Energy has completed the spinoff of its Appalachian mining operations into a separate public company.

Patriot Coal Corp. said Thursday that its shares have begun trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Chief Executive Richard Whiting calls the spinoff an exciting milestone.

Patriot consists of about 19 Peabody mines and preparation plants in West Virginia and Kentucky. The St. Louis-based company controls about 1.2 billion tons of coal in Appalachia and the Illinois Basin.

Approximately 26.6 million shares of Patriot stock were distributed to Peabody shareholders. They received one share of Patriot for every 10 shares of Peabody.