Allegiance Coal Limited (Allegiance) announced the appointment of Mr. Paul Vining as Non-Executive Chairman designate of Allegiance. Mr. Vining holds two Bachelor of Science degrees, in Mineral Engineering and in Chemistry, and a Master of Science degree in Extractive Metallurgy. He is currently the Non-Executive Chairman of Westmoreland Mining LLC, a thermal coal producer in Canada and the US with 25Mt of annual production.

Mr. Vining's professional career spans 40 years. For the first 20 years he worked predominantly in coal sales including as Executive Vice President of Coal Sales and Trading for Peabody Energy. Mr. Gray will step down as CEO and Chairman of Allegiance on the commencement of Mr. Romcke and Mr. Vining respectively.

Mr. Gray will remain an executive director of Allegiance responsible for non-production activities including sales and marketing, investor relations and the Tenas Environmental Assessment review.