Resolute axes Fort Frances mill.

• Position: NEWS

Montreal's Resolute Forest Products made a not-so-shocking decision in May to permanently close its mothballed Fort Frances pulp and paper mill.

The company blamed the move on an "extended period of market-related outage on its remaining paper machine." The kraft pulp mill and another paper machine have been idled since November, 2012.

"We tried hard to find a way to reposition these assets, particularly the pulp mill," said company president-CEO Richard Garneau in a statement. "But unfortunately, due to end product markets, the mill's operational configuration and its cost position, we've concluded that there was no economically viable option for the pulp and paper operations at Fort Frances."

But the company said it's looking for ways to continue operating the mill's biomass boiler and the power-producing steam turbine.

Resolute said affected employees will be considered for jobs at other operations.

The company has big plans to build a wood pellet plant at...