Miramichi, N.B., lumber mill likely to reopen soon, says province

MIRAMICHI, N.B. - The last lumber mill to close on New Brunswick's Miramichi is poised to become the first one to reopen.
Public Safety Minister John Foran said Monday that the province has secured $3 million in loans to help ensure that Miramichi Lumber Products, formerly known as Newcastle Lumber, will reopen in the near future.
The government has approved business and industrial plans submitted by the company and has also upped the company's Crown allocation of wood.
Miramichi Lumber Products is set to undergo an extensive $3.5-million modernization this winter, and workers are already busy in the woods cutting timber for the company.
Fresh-cut logs sat in the mill yard Monday.
The company went into receivership last May, putting about 100 people out of work, including about a dozen employees at the company's Boiestown dressing facility.
Newcastle Lumber had been operating from its familiar mill site on Jane Street since 1894, and has been owned by the Anderson family since the 1960s.
"I am very pleased with the actions by the Department of Business New Brunswick and the Department of Natural Resources that will mean long-term, sustainable employment for the 100 employees and their families," said Forman, member of the legislature for Miramichi Centre.
The current agreement for the mill's reopening is an agreement in principle. A formal announcement is expected soon.