ASHLAND – Even as workers at International Paper Co. lumber mills in Passadumkeag and Costigan try to come to grips with the pending loss of their jobs, some of their counterparts at the Irving-owned Pinkham sawmill were getting good news Monday.

After being shut down for three months, the mill will resume operations with one shift as of March 12, officials at J.D. Irving Ltd. of Canada announced Monday.

“When we get through the winter, people resume with building projects,” Mary Keith, Irving spokesperson, said Monday during a telephone interview. “We believe this is sustainable with reduced volume and one shift.”

The mill closed on Jan. 12 because of depressed lumber prices.

In mid-December when the closure was announced, 1,000 feet of lumber delivered in Boston sold for $278. That was 30 percent less than what the same amount of lumber had sold for 11 months earlier.

“At the time of the shutdown, the lumber market was at its lowest in 10 years,” Keith said Monday. “We’re hoping we’re going to see a bit of a turnaround this spring in lumber.”

When the mill closed, it had 105 employees working two shifts. While getting everyone back to work isn’t out of the question, adding a second shift “will be completely dependent upon the market,” Keith said.

Before the January shutdown, 40 employees had been laid off last October, also because of depressed lumber prices.

Between 1998 and 2000, Irving had invested nearly $3 million in the Pinkham operation and added 50 new jobs.

“We’ve got a good work force there,” said Keith, who added that in order to keep top-notch employees, it’s necessary to keep them working.

Monday’s announcement was applauded by Gov. Angus S. King, who described it as “a bright spot in what otherwise has been a batch of bad news recently for the lumber industry.”

“We’re hopeful that the market will continue to improve so that the remaining workers at the Ashland facility can return to work as well,” King said in a prepared statement.