<B>Gallaher Thorold to Close for Good</B>

The receiver of Gallaher Thorold Paper Co. has given up on the operation and is proceeding with liquidation of the mill, according to an article in the National Post. Earlier this week the accounting firm Ernst and Young conducted a search for a purchaser and spent $900,000 on maintaining the defunct Niagara region mill.

"After more than a year of attempting to find an operating purchaser for the mill, the receiver has no other option but to pursue this course of action," Ernst and Young said in a statement.

The Butler Group and the union representing laid-off workers made bids for the plant, which closed last May more than $70 million in debt.

The receiver selected the Butler Group to buy the plant in November. However, Ernst and Young this week that the Butler Group, despite repeated extensions, "has been unable to confirm its financing."