Anglo American completes
withdrawal from the Pebble Limited Partnership
VANCOUVER,
Dec. 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ - Northern
Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (TSX: NDM; NYSE MKT: NAK) ("Northern Dynasty"
or the "Company") announces that it has exercised its right
to acquire Anglo American (US)
Pebble LLC's ("Anglo American") interest in the Pebble Limited
Partnership ("Pebble Partnership" or "PLP"). Northern Dynasty has
now re-acquired 100% ownership and control of the Pebble
Partnership. All Anglo American
representatives have resigned from the Pebble Mines Corporation
Board of Directors.
"During the course of the last six years and
at a cost of US$556 million (as of
September 30, 2013), substantial
progress has been made toward our goal of permitting, constructing
and operating a world-class, modern and environmentally responsible
mine at Pebble that will co-exist with the fisheries resources of
southwest Alaska," said
Northern Dynasty President & CEO Ronald
Thiessen.
Thiessen said Pebble's engineering design,
environmental science and regulatory planning are now sufficiently
advanced that PLP will be in a position to trigger federal and
state permitting under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
in the first quarter of 2014. He added that Northern Dynasty's
current focus is to consolidate all of the technical data,
engineering work and permitting documentation related to Pebble
into a data room, with the goal of qualifying and securing a new
partner in 2014. A final decision on permit filing will be made in
2014, by the Northern Dynasty Board.
"Our primary focus is to select the right
partner for Northern Dynasty and the right investor for
Alaska, a company with sufficient
financial resources and technical capabilities, working experience
in the United States and a shared
commitment to environmentally sound and socially responsible
development. We have little doubt that Pebble will attract
major mining company interest in the months ahead."
Northern Dynasty has launched a new website to
present current information related to Pebble Project developments
at www.northerndynastyminerals.com.
About the Pebble Project
The Pebble Project is an initiative 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 Northern Dynasty, 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 recent 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. A
copy the 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 Vancouver, Canada-based company whose
principal asset is the Pebble Project, 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, especially
those that address estimated resource quantities, grades and
contained metals, are forward-looking statements because they are
generally made on the basis of estimation and extrapolation from a
limited number of drill holes and metallurgical studies. Although
diamond drill hole core provides valuable information about the
size, shape and geology of an exploration project, there will
always remain a significant degree of uncertainty in connection
with these valuation factors until a deposit has been extensively
drilled on closely spaced centers, which has occurred only in
specific areas on the Pebble Project. 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. 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, and the ability to secure the right
partner to assist with the advancement of the Pebble Project from a
financial and technical perspective, and otherwise. 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.