Northern Dynasty: US Army Corps of Engineers accepts Pebble Partnership Request for Appeal
Northern Dynasty: US Army Corps of Engineers accepts Pebble Partnership Request for Appeal
February 25, 2021 Vancouver – Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (TSX: NDM; NYSE American: NAK) ("Northern
Dynasty" or the "Company") reports the US Army Corps of Engineers (“USACE”) has accepted Pebble Limited
Partnership’s request to initiate an administrative appeal process with respect to southwest Alaska’s Pebble
Project and a negative ‘Record of Decision’ (“ROD”) issued by its Alaska District in November 2020.
On January 19, 2021, Northern Dynasty’s 100%-owned, US-based subsidiary Pebble Limited Partnership (the
“Pebble Partnership”) submitted a Request for Appeal (“RFA”) to the USACE’s Pacific Ocean Division Engineer
headquartered in Hawaii. In a letter dated February 24, the USACE confirmed the Pebble Partnership’s RFA
is “complete and meets the criteria for appeal.”
The USACE Alaska District published a final Environmental Impact Statement (“EIS”) for the proposed copper-
gold-molybdenum-silver-rhenium mine in July 2020, finding that Pebble would “not have measurable effects”
on fish populations or fisheries in southwest Alaska. Despite this, the USACE published a ROD on November
25, 2020 denying Pebble a key permit under the Clean Water Act on the grounds that its ‘compensatory
mitigation plan’ (“CMP”) is non-compliant and the project is not in the ‘public interest.’
Northern Dynasty believes that key a spects of the USACE’s ROD and permitting decision – including its
‘significant degradation’ finding, its ‘public interest review’ findings and its perfunctory rejection of Pebble’s
CMP – are contrary to law, unprecedented in Alaska and fundamentally unsupp orted by the administrative
record, including the Pebble Project EIS.
A full version of the Pebble Partnership’s RFA can be viewed at:
https://northerndynastyminerals.com/site/assets/files/4888/plp-request-for-appeal-poa-2017-00271-jan-
19-2021.pdf
USACE guidelines indicate the administrative appeal process should conclude within 90 days, although it may
be extended under certain circumstances.
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 Limite d
Partnership (“PLP”), is a 100% interest in a contiguous block of 2,402 mineral claims in southwest Alaska,
including the Pebble deposit , located 200 miles from Anchorage and 125 miles from Bristol Bay. PLP is the
proponent of the Pebble Project, an initi ative 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" under applicable law. All statements in
this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address permitting, dev elopment and production for the Pebble Project
are forward-looking statements. These statements include statements regarding (i) the mine plan for the Pebble Project, (ii) the social
integration of the Pebble Project into the Bristol Bay region and benefit s for Alaska, (iii) the political and public support for the
permitting process, (iv) the ability to successfully appeal the negative Record of Decision and secure the issuance of a positive Record
of Decision by the US Army Corps of Engineers and the abil ity of the Pebble Project to secure state permits, (v) the right -sizing and
de-risking of the Pebble Project, (vi) the design and operating parameters for the Pebble Project mine plan, (vii) exploration potential
of the Pebble Project, (viii) future demand for copper and gold, (ix) the potential partnering of the Pebble Project, and (x) the ability
and timetable of NDM to develop the Pebble Project and become a leading copper, gold and molybdenum producer. 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, esta blish
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 obtain all required environmental and other permits and a ll land
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 P roject,
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 objec tives,
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 processing facilities, (v) the inability of NDM to secure a partner fo r the
development of the Pebble Project, and (vi) receipt by NDM of significant additional financing to fund these objectives as we ll 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
uncertainties with regard to COVID-19.
The National Environment Policy Act Environmental Impact Statement process requires a comprehensive “alternatives assessment”
be undertaken to consider a broad range of development alternatives, the final project design and operating parameters for th e
Pebble Project and associated infrastructure may vary significantly from that cu rrently contemplated. As a result, the Company will
continue to consider various development options and no final project design has been selected at this time.
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