ST. LOUIS, Sept. 28, 2011 -- The Arch Coal Foundation today announced that it will sponsor the Utah Education Association's (UEA) statewide Excellence in Teaching awards beginning this year.

"On behalf of the Utah Education Association and our 18,000 teacher members, we express our gratitude to the Arch Coal Foundation for sponsoring the Excellence in Teaching awards recognition program," said UEA President Sharon Gallagher-Fishbaugh. "The generous support of the Arch Coal Foundation allows us to continue our tradition of recognizing the best and the brightest among Utah's teachers."

Teachers nominate fellow teachers for these annual, peer-to-peer awards. For 2011, 10 winning Utah teachers each will be honored with $1,500 for their outstanding efforts to significantly impact a child or group of children. The awards will be presented at the "Superstars in Education" banquet on Oct. 20 in South Jordan, Utah, by Governor Gary R. Herbert and Arch Coal President of Western Operations Ken Cochran.

"The Arch Coal Foundation is very pleased to expand its teacher-recognition efforts in Utah," said Steven F. Leer, chairman and chief executive officer of Arch Coal, Inc. "The Foundation's support of the Utah Education Association's Excellence in Teaching awards enables us to recognize teachers statewide, in addition to continuing our Arch Coal Teacher Achievement Awards program in a four-county area."

The Arch Coal Teacher Achievement Awards Program is now in its sixth year in Carbon, Emery, Sanpete and Sevier counties of Utah. These four counties surround the Skyline, Dugout Canyon and Sufco mines operated by Canyon Fuel Company, a subsidiary of Arch Coal, Inc.

The Arch Coal Foundation also supports teacher-recognition or grant programs in Colorado, West Virginia and Wyoming, as well as a number of other education-related causes. Including the teacher awards program, Arch Coal and its Foundation support $1.4 million in education-related programs and charitable giving each year. Details about the Foundation's other teacher awards and grant programs are available at archteacherawards.com.

Arch's Canyon Fuel Company is Utah's largest coal producer and a large, state employer, with a workforce of 900. U.S.-based Arch Coal, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) is a top five global coal producer and marketer, with 179 million tons of coal sold pro forma in 2010. Arch is the most diversified American coal company, with mining complexes across every major U.S. coal supply basin. Arch's core business is supplying cleaner-burning, low-sulfur thermal and metallurgical coal to power generators and steel manufacturers on four continents.