PINEVILLE, W.Va. — Nearly 200 coal miners at the Pinnacle Mine in Wyoming County began the new year without jobs.
The miners were turned away when they reported for their evening shift on Wednesday.
The layoffs are part of the mine’s transition from Cliffs Natural Resources to Seneca Coal Resources ownership, according to McDowell County Commission President Harold McBride.
Cliffs laid off half of its employees back in Oct. 2015 at both Pinnacle and the Oak Grove Mine in Alabama. In late December, Cliffs sold its West Virginia and Alabama mine operations to Seneca.
Seneca Coal Resources LLC is an affiliate of ERP Compliant Fuels LLC of Virginia.