Sealaska Corp. has sold its limestone mine on Prince of Wales Island to a California-based company.

Sealaska sold the mine to Select Resources Corp., a subsidiary of Tri-Valley Corp.

Sealaska, the Alaska Native regional corporation for Southeast Alaska, invested about $20 million in the Admiral Calder Calcium Carbonate Mine since the 1980s. Sealaska shut down the operation in 2002.

Executive vice president Richard Harris said the company did not want to invest any more in the project.

Neither party would disclose the amount of the sale. Harris said it was "not huge."

The mine produced a high-grade form of calcium carbonate that can be used in paper, paint and plastics, plus minerals used in rubber and roofing.

Henri Sandri of Select Resources said the limestone is high in purity.

The limestone market is hot, particularly in Japan, Korea and China, he said, and limestone also could be shipped to markets on the West Coast.

Select Resources has a history of contacts with minerals customers. It has expertise in producing the minerals and skills to market them, Sandri said.

Harris said Select Resources is better suited to break into the high-end market and reap a wider variety of minerals from the mine.

"The market is controlled by a small number of companies," Harris said.

Of the 572 acres at the Prince of Wales site, 15 have been mined.

Sandri said part of the secret to success is patience and looking at long-term growth. Harris said Sealaska was not able to get profits as fast as it expected.

The Calder site was mined first in 1905 but abandoned for decades until Sealaska purchased it. Select Resources said the mine contains about 14 million tons of proven and probable reserves and 12.5 million tons of possible deposits. – Associated Press