HALIFAX -- Local suppliers and other small, unsecured creditors owed money from a shuttered paper mill in Cape Breton won't be shut out from the sale of the operation, the monitor handling the transaction said Tuesday.

The sale of NewPage Port Hawkesbury to Vancouver-based Pacific West Commercial returned to Nova Scotia Supreme Court to address several orders, including one dealing with a creditors' meeting next month.

The Aug. 15 meeting in Port Hawkesbury will give secured and unsecured creditors a chance to accept a proposal on what they're owed.

But Judge John Murphy told court-appointed monitor Ernst & Young on Tuesday that the process seemed needlessly complicated for the unsecured creditor who's owed thousands -- not millions -- of dollars.

Murphy said confusion over when certain documents have to be filed might keep some of those 300 creditors from being able to cast a ballot.

"My concern is the hoops they have to go through in order to vote," he said in court.

"It has to work for the little guy, too."

Mathew Harris of Ernst & Young said the monitor is making changes to ensure that those creditors can arrive at the meeting and fill out any necessary paperwork.

"The monitor's staff will be available ... to take people through what needs to be done and to make sure that every creditor has a chance to vote on the plan," he said outside the courtroom.

Harris said it's estimated that about $2.5 million will be available for general creditors, including unsecured creditors, under the plan. He said their claim is more than $200 million.

Another $31 million will be given to U.S. noteholders, he said. The total claim of the creditors in that class is about $3 billion.

Harris said more than 50 per cent of each class of creditors and creditors holding 2/3 of the value of the amount claimed must approve the deal in order for it to proceed.

The mill in Point Tupper closed last September, throwing some 600 employees out of work and affecting another 400 forestry contractors.

Pacific West Commercial has indicated it wants to restart one of two machines at the plant, which remains in a so-called hot idle mode.

An affidavit filed earlier this month said the Vancouver-based company is prepared to spend $33 million to buy the mill and become the sole shareholder.

Harris said the company wants to be in operation by Sept. 1.

"My understanding is that they have to be out in the marketplace in September taking orders because that is the order-taking season," he said.

But a number of hurdles remain, including a deal on power rates between Pacific West Commercial and Nova Scotia Power. That matter is currently before the province's Utilities and Review Board, though it's unclear when a decision will be released.

Murphy granted the mill its sixth extension of its creditor protection on Tuesday. It will now expire on Aug. 31 -- the proposed closing date to finalize the sale of the operation.

The third order, a so-called reorganization order, was also approved Tuesday in court.

It will change the mill from an unlimited liability corporation to limited liability that Harris said will ultimately help the operation pay back creditors under the plan.