By Sarah Tincher

April 15, 2016 - A Wyoming County, West Virginia coal mine partially reopened April 14 after a contract dispute idled the operation just three days prior.  

Seneca Coal Resources’ Pinnacle mine, located near Pineville, was shut down Monday night after mine employees voted down a new tentative United Mine Workers of America contract that would have cut health care benefits.

A Wednesday meeting between Seneca and the union prompted a “partial realignment” of the agreement, David Jackson, president of UMWA Local 1713, told WVNS 59News.

But only 165 miners returned to work on Thursday, while 120 of the mine’s former employees are left without a job, 59News reported.

The future of the mine is unclear, Jackson said, as Seneca and the union still need to renegotiate a new contract for 2017.

The Pinnacle mine was previously idled without notice in January after Seneca bought the mine from Cliffs Natural Resources last December.