Catalyst Paper announced Friday it has sold its Elk Falls industrial site at Campbell River to Quicksilver Resources Canada Inc., a Calgary-based corporation with extensive natural gas holdings.
The property was sold for $8.6 million and the sale closed Friday.
Sale of the approximate 1,200-acre parcel includes a fully serviced, 400-acre industrial site and adjacent property near Campbell River. The site formerly housed a paper and pulp mill which began operation in 1952, was indefinitely curtailed in 2009 and closed permanently in 2010. Work has been underway since then to prepare the site for sale and redevelopment for other industrial uses.
An agreement to sell the mill site had been reached last August to Alberta businessman Harold Jahn owner of Pacifica Deep Sea Terminals Incorporated for the same price. However, the deal fell through after receiving three extensions to conclude the sale.
The site has some issues including potential contamination due to its past heavy industrial use. But the community of Campbell River has been keen to see it sold and return to being a major economic generator in the community.
Catalyst Paper manufactures diverse specialty mechanical printing papers, newsprint and pulp. Its customers include retailers, publishers and commercial printers in North America, Latin America, the Pacific Rim and Europe.
Catalyst operations support 7,000 direct and indirect jobs and generate nearly $2 billion in annual BC economic impact. With a combined annual production capacity of 1.5 million tonnes, company facilities are located in Crofton, Port Alberni, Powell River, Surrey and Nanaimo. Catalyst is headquartered in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada and is ranked by Corporate Knights magazine as one of the 50 Best Corporate Citizens in Canada.