ST. LOUIS, Sept. 15, 2011 -- Arch Coal, Inc. (NYSE: ACI) today announced that it again earned a spot on the InformationWeek 500, an annual listing of the nation's most innovative users of business technology. This marks the sixth consecutive year that Arch Coal has been ranked as one of the most innovative companies by InformationWeek.

"We're pleased to be recognized as an information technology pacesetter among such highly respected companies," said David Hartley, Arch's vice president and chief information officer. "Leveraging new technologies to improve our business is the name of the game. Whether we're applying electronic tracking and mapping to connect surface and underground employees together or establishing dynamic user experiences for business intelligence, technology is at the heart of dozens of continuous improvement efforts."

Arch Coal is one of only three natural resources companies listed among the top 250 of this year's InformationWeek 500.

InformationWeek identifies and honors the nation's most innovative users of information technology with its annual 500 listing and also tracks the technology, strategies, investments and administrative practices of America's best-known companies. Additional details on the InformationWeek 500 can be found online at www.informationweek.com/iw500.

U.S.-based Arch Coal 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. Its core business is supplying cleaner-burning, low-sulfur thermal and metallurgical coal to power generators and steel manufacturers on four continents.