MANITOBA, Canada -- There's a glimmer of hope in the fight to save the Tolko mill in The Pas.

Tolko Industries confirms that a letter of intent to buy the mill has been signed. Though it's far from a done deal, a potential sale could still save the operation before more than 300 layoffs are set to take effect on Dec. 2.

"A letter of intent basically indicates the buyer is interested and there's a number of conditions that they would like met," said Janice Lockyer, Tolko's communications advisor.

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Lockyer said it's too soon to name the potential buyer or discuss what conditions the sale requires, though she did reveal that not all of those conditions fall completely under the company's control.

"Conditions could fall under the government, the Town of The Pas or a third party," said Lockyer.

Tolko is doing whatever it can to ensure any deal is worked out as quickly as possible to avoid a disruption to the major employer of the northern Manitoba town, which has a population of about 5,500.

"The goal is if there is a sale is to have it happen as soon as possible so we can have normal operations at the mill," said Lockyer.