Northern Dynasty: State of Alaska to appeal Pebble Project permit denial
Northern Dynasty: State of Alaska to appeal Pebble Project permit denial
January 11, 2021 Vancouver – Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (TSX: NDM; NYSE American: NAK) ("Northern
Dynasty" or the "Company") reports the Office of Alaska State Governor Mike Dunleavy issued a statement
late last week to announce his administration will formally appeal the US Army Corps of Engineers’ (“USACE”)
November 25, 2020 denial of a key federal permit for Alaska’s Pebble Project.
In a statement released January 8, 2021, Governor Dunleavy said the USACE’s Record of Decision (“ROD”)
and accompanying denial of a Clean Water Act 404 permit for the proposed copper-gold-molybdenum-silver-
rhenium project in southwest Alaska is “flawed (and)…creates a dangerous precedent that will undoubtedly
harm Alaska’s future.”
As owner of the land and subsurface mineral estate at Pebble, the State of Alaska has the right – along with
Northern Dynasty’s 100% -owned US -based subsidiary Pebble Limited Partnersh ip (“Pebble Partnership”),
which owns state-issued mineral claims at the property – to launch an administrative appeal of the USACE’s
permitting decision.
Northern Dynast y believes the State of Alaska – as an asset owner and professional regulator with a
constitutional mandate to develop the state’s resources in the best interests of its citizens – will bring
different perspectives and motivations in challenging a federal decision that Pebble believes to be arbitrary,
unprecedented in Alaska and unsupported by the administrative record. This includes a serious concern
about the decision’s long-term implications for Alaska’s ability to responsibly develop its natural resources.
The Pebble Partnership’s and State of Alaska’s ‘requests for appeal’ (“RFA”) must be submitted within 60
days of the USACE’s November 25, 2020 issuance of a ROD and CWA 404 permit denial. Pebble is preparing
a comprehensive RFA to challenge the USACE’s permitting decision on procedural, substantive and le gal
grounds, including:
• that it is not supported by the administrative record for the Pebble Project , including the
Environmental Impact Statement published July 24, 2020; and,
• that mitigation requirements for Pebble are contrary to policy and precedent in Alaska, and the
rejection of Pebble’s Compensatory Mitigation Plan was both procedurally and substantively invalid.
In its statement, the State of Alaska also suggests the USACE’s requirements concerning mitigation at Pebble
are unprecedented and inconsistent with longstanding practice and policy guidance in the state.
The Office of Alaska Governor’s statement quotes Acting Attorney General Ed Sniffen: “ This appeal asks the
Army Corps Pacific Ocean Division to remand the permit decision back to the Alaska District for a more
thorough review consistent with the law. The Division ignored Corps’ long-standing guidance that required it
to tailor mitigation requirements to recognize Alaska’s unique position of holding more intact wetlands than
any of the lower 48 states combined. Instead, the Division is requiring mitigation measures that are simply
impossible to meet in Alaska.”
The Pebbl e Partnership intends to submit its RFA to the USACE’s Pacific Ocean Division Engineer
headquartered in Hawaii within two weeks. Following its receipt, the USACE will have 30 days to notify Pebble
as to whether its RFA is complete. USACE guidelines indicate the administrative appeal process should
conclude within 90 days.
“The Alaska District’s decision has far-reaching and ominous implications for our rights as a state to develop
our resources for the benefit of all Alaskans, whether its mineral deposits like Pebble, or oil and gas on the
North Slope, or other resources anywhere in the state ,” said Alaska Department of Natural Resources
Commissioner Corri Feige . “The Alaska Constitution specifically directs us to develop our resources in the
public interest. When a federal agency arbitrarily tries to deprive us of our rights with the stroke of a
bureaucrat’s pen, we simply must challenge that action.”
About Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.
Northern Dynasty is a mineral exploration and development company based in Vancouver, Canada. Northern
Dynasty's principal asset, owned through its wholly owned Alaska -based U.S. subsidiary, Pebble Limited
Partnership (“PLP”), is a 100% interest in a contiguous block of 2,402 mineral claims in southwest Alaska,
including the Pebble deposit. PLP is the proponent of the Pebble Project, an initiative to develop one of the
world's most important mineral resources.
For further details on Northern Dynasty and the Pebble Project, please visit the Company's website at
www.northerndynastyminerals.com or contact Investor services at (604) 684 -6365 or within North America
at 1-800-667-2114. Review Canadian public filings at www.sedar.com and US public filings at www.sec.gov.
Ronald W. Thiessen
President & CEO
US Media Contact:
Dan Gagnier
Gagnier Communications
(646) 569-5897
Forward Looking Information and other Cautionary Factors
This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than
statements of historical facts, that address exploration drilling, exploitation activities and events or developments that the Company
expects are forward -looking statements. Although NDM believes the expectations expressed in these forward -looking statements
are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements should not be in any way be construed as guarantees that the Pebble Project
will secure all required government permits, establish the commercial feasibility of the Pebble Project or develop the Pebble Project.
Assumptions used by NDM to develop forward -looking statements include the assumptions that (i) the Pebble Project will be
successful in the appeal process or related litigation and will obtain all required environmental and other permits and all l and use
and other licenses without undue delay, (ii) studies for the development of the Pebble Project will be positive, (iii) NDM’s estimates
of mineral resources will not change, (iv) NDM will be able to establish the commercial feasibility of the Pebble Project, and (v) NDM
will be able to secure the financing required to develop the Pebble Project. The likelihood of future mining at the Pebble Project is
subject to a large number of risks and will require achievement of a number of technical, economic and legal objectives, including (i)
obtaining necessary mining and construction permits, licenses and approvals without undue delay, including without delay due to
third party opposition or changes in government policies, (ii) finalization of the mine plan for the Pebble Project, (iii) the completion
of feasibility studies demonstrating that any Pebble Project mineral resources that can be economically mined, (iv) completion of all
necessary engineering for mining and p rocessing facilities, (v) the ability of NDM to secure a partner for th e development of the
Pebble Project, and (vi) receipt by NDM of significant additional financing to fund these objectives as well as funding mine
construction, which financing may not be available to NDM on acceptable terms or on any terms at all. NDM is a lso subject to the
specific risks inherent in the mining business as well as general economic and business conditions, such as the current uncer tainties
with regard to COVID-19.
For more information on the Company, Investors should review the Company's filings with the United States Securities and Exchange
Commission and its home jurisdiction filings that are available at www.sedar.com