Blankenship Massey to retire Dec. 30, is replaced by Phillips, President

Massey Energy Co. CEO Don Blankenship will retire after 31 December, the company said in an emailed statement. President Baxter F. Massey Phillips Jr. will succeed as CEO, the company said.

Blankenship, 60, has worked at Massey for 28 years and served as president and CEO since November 30, 2000, the Richmond, Virginia-based company said. Admiral Bobby Inman, 79, an independent lead director on the board of Massey, will become executive chairman.

Last month, Massey, owner of the mine Upper Great Power in West Virginia, where 29 people died in April, said its board has ordered a review of strategic alternatives, a process that can lead to a sale. Blankenship became the face of the company in public disagreements with U.S. regulators after the mining accident.

"We were surprised indeed to see the announcement that Don Blankenship was removed because the name of Don and Massey are nearly synonymous," said Jeremy Sussman, an analyst at Brean Murray, Carret & Co. in New York.

Massey rose 17 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $ 50.42 in today's market in New York Stock Exchange. The retirement announcement came after the close of trading. The shares had fallen 35 percent before the October 18 report in the Wall Street Journal that the company was considering a sale. The stock has risen 42 percent since speculation that the company will take over.

Potential Acquisition

Acquisition of consultations was initiated earlier this year after the April 05 accident in the Upper Great Power mine near Montcoal, West Virginia. The accident was the worst coal mining disaster U.S. in 40 years.

Blankenship, who began his career with the company as office manager in 1982, has expressed reservations about the possible sale of the company. Last month, said the merger and acquisition options would be "thoroughly investigated", when the board met at the Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., Nov. 21.

"After almost three decades in Massey is the time for me to move on," Blankenship said in a statement. "Baxter and I worked together for 28 years and will provide great leadership to the company executive."

Massey Reserves

Massey, a company that has been operating for 94 years, is the largest coal producer in central Appalachia, with 2.8 million tons of reserves, 1.3 million of which is metallurgical coal, used to produce steel .

In October it reported a net loss of $ 41,400,000 for the third quarter, citing lower productivity amid increased regulatory scrutiny following the accident Upper Great Power.

Blankenship lives in Sprigg, West Virginia, on the basis of Rawls Massey Sales & Processing Co., near the border with West Virginia, Kentucky, a region where the Hatfields and McCoys fought their legendary fights. He went to high school in Matewan, West Virginia, a city that was home to one of the bloodiest battles of the workforce in U.S. history.

Last month, the company said that encourage Congress to force U.S. Safety and Health Administration to allow more widespread use of scrubbers.

His battles were not limited to regulators. The United Mine Workers union and unions in seven states protested and called for his dismissal at the annual meeting of shareholders of the company in May and today hailed the withdrawal as a "step in the negative image that has cast a shadow" over the industry.

Talented Leader

His peers consider him one of the most talented leaders in the industry. The company's revenue has tripled in the last 10 years to 2.69 billion U.S. dollars last year. At the same time has become a more open advocate of coal.

"Don thinks that their beliefs are morally right and follow them," said Chris Cline, principal owner of Foresight Energy LLC, in an interview earlier this year. "Somehow, people should admire. You should also think," Maybe there's a way to not be a bull in a china shop. "

Blankenship has a Twitter account to send activists railing against regulation and the environment.

"Competitionist am" he wrote in an Aug. 9 tweet. "You have to let American workers go on court with the opportunity to win."

The company initially said Blankenship's retirement would be effective from 30 December. It issued a second statement saying that the date of 31 December.