Staff at the Stillwater Mine are set to return to work today after agreeing an improved contract.

The deal should mark an end to the ongoing dispute, which began at the start of last week (July 12th) when union workers voted to reject a proposed three-year wage agreement and went on strike.

A vote among union members on the new package is said to have secured 80 per cent of the votes in a ballot that ended late last night.

Each worker with the Paper, Allied Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International (PACE) Union is thought to have secured a bonus of around $1,000, as well as some conciliations on working conditions.

Brad Shorey, president of Local 8-0001 of the PACE union, told the Billings Gazette: "I'm glad this is behind us."

John Stark, vice president of human resources at Stillwater Mining, said that the offer was a generous one, declaring: "That's big bucks anywhere you cut it . . . That's big money."

Around 900 workers went on strike last week at the Nye mine and at the smelter, refinery and warehouse in Columbus.