VANCOUVER , Sept. 24, 2014 /CNW/ - Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (TSX:
NDM; NYSE MKT: NAK) ("Northern Dynasty" or the "Company") reports that
U.S. federal court in Alaska today released an order recognizing that
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") has agreed not to take the
next step to advance its Clean Water Act Section 404(c) regulatory process with respect to southwest Alaska's
Pebble Project until at least January 2, 2015 .
Pebble Limited Partnership ("Pebble Partnership") has two cases of
pending litigation in U.S federal court with respect to EPA action. The
first, for which the State of Alaska is co-plaintiff, challenges EPA's
statutory authority to pre-emptively impose development restrictions on
Pebble prior to the submission of a proposed development plan for
review by federal and state regulatory agencies. The second charges
that EPA has not complied with the Federal Advisory Committee Act
(FACA) and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) in preparing the
Bristol Bay Assessment study, upon which the Section 404(c) regulatory
process is largely based.
The purpose of EPA's agreement is to ensure that both parties in
Pebble's FACA litigation have sufficient time to brief the court, and
for the court to decide on the Pebble Partnership's preliminary
injunction motion before EPA takes the next step to advance its
regulatory process. Today's order applies to the FACA case and also
states that, should the federal court not issue a decision on the
Pebble Partnership's preliminary injunction motion prior to January 2,
2015 , parties to the litigation will work together in good faith to
negotiate an extension to the stay.
***
Unrelated to the U.S. federal court order released today, the public
comment period for EPA Region 10's 'Proposed Determination' with
respect to Alaska's Pebble Project closed September 19, 2014 . Pebble
Partnership submitted an extensive response to EPA's proposed
development restrictions; documents are available on the Northern
Dynasty website at:
http://www.northerndynastyminerals.com/ndm/EPA_BBWA.asp
About the Pebble Project
The Pebble Project is an initiative of the Pebble Partnership to
responsibly develop a globally significant copper, gold and molybdenum
deposit in southwest Alaska into a modern, long-life mine, which will
benefit not only the owner, but the people, culture and industries of
the State of Alaska , as well as suppliers, consultants and industries
in the Lower 48 United States of America.
A 2013 study authored by IHS Global Insight, entitled The Economic and Employment Contributions of a Conceptual Pebble Mine to
the Alaska and United States Economies found the Pebble Project has the potential to support 15,000 American
jobs and contribute more than $2.5 billion annually to US GDP over
decades of production. The IHS Global Insight study is available at www.northerndynasty.com.
The Pebble Project is located 200 miles southwest of Anchorage on state
land designated for mineral exploration and development. It is situated
in a region of rolling tundra approximately 1,000 feet above sea-level,
65 miles from tidewater on Cook Inlet and presents favourable
conditions for successful mine site and infrastructure development.
About Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.
Northern Dynasty is a mineral exploration and development company based
in Vancouver, Canada . Northern Dynasty's principal asset is the Pebble
Project in southwest Alaska, USA , an advanced-stage initiative to
develop one of the world's most important mineral resources.
Ronald W. Thiessen
President & CEO
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 the Company believes
the expectations expressed in its forward-looking statements are based
on reasonable assumptions, such statements should not be in any way
construed as guarantees of the ultimate size, quality or commercial
feasibility of the Pebble Project or of the Company's future
performance. Assumptions used by the Company to develop forward-looking
statements include the following: the Pebble Project will obtain all
required environmental and other permits and all land use and other
licenses, studies and development of the Pebble Project will continue
to be positive, and no geological or technical problems will occur.
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 obtaining necessary
mining and construction permits, completion of pre-feasibility and
final feasibility studies, preparation of all necessary engineering for
underground workings and processing facilities as well as receipt of
significant additional financing to fund these objectives as well as
funding mine construction. Such funding may not be available to the
Company on acceptable terms or on any terms at all. There is no known
ore at the Pebble Project and there is no assurance that the
mineralization at the Pebble Project will ever be classified as ore.
The need for compliance with extensive environmental and socio-economic
rules and practices and the requirement for the Company to obtain
government permitting can cause a delay or even abandonment of a
mineral project. The Company is also subject to the specific risks
inherent in the mining business as well as general economic and
business conditions. For more information on the Company, Investors
should review the Company's annual Form 40-F filing with the United
States Securities and Exchange Commission and its home jurisdiction
filings that are available at www.sedar.com.
SOURCE Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.