VANCOUVER,
Feb. 28, 2014 /CNW/ - Northern
Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (TSX: NDM; NYSE MKT: NAK) ("Northern Dynasty"
or the "Company") acknowledges that the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency is initiating a process under the Clean Water
Act to investigate potential impacts on aquatic habitat and
fisheries associated with mine development in southwest
Alaska. This EPA process, which is
a continuation of the Bristol Bay Assessment study initiated
in 2011, will include consultation with the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers and the Pebble Limited Partnership ("Pebble Partnership"
or "PLP"), the proponent of the Pebble Project.
In a news release issued today, the U.S. federal
agency reports: "Based on input EPA receives during any one of
these steps, the agency could decide that further review under
Section 404c (of the Clean Water Act) is not necessary."
"For a wide range of reasons, we remain
confident that final decisions about Pebble will be made by federal
and state regulators working within the rigorous National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) permitting process, and not
unilaterally and pre-emptively by EPA," said said Ron Thiessen, President & CEO of Northern
Dynasty Minerals Ltd. "We will participate fully in EPA's process
to consider necessary safeguards to ensure that responsible mineral
development can co-exist with clean water and healthy fisheries in
Bristol Bay, and we will continue our efforts to prepare for the
NEPA permitting process to come."
Thiessen said both EPA and the Peer Reviewers
they contracted to review the Bristol Bay Assessment have
acknowledged that their study is insufficient as a foundation for
regulatory decision-making with respect to the Pebble Project. In
response to Peer Review comments on the Bristol Bay
Assessment, EPA states: "The assessment is not intended to
duplicate or replace a regulatory process"…and "We agree that a
more detailed assessment of direct and indirect impacts of
mining…will have to be done as part of the NEPA and permitting
processes."
Thiessen also noted that Northern Dynasty has
submitted hundreds of pages of documentation to EPA Inspector
General (IG), an independent office within the federal agency,
calling for an investigation into the Bristol Bay
Assessment. Based on Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests
undertaken by the Pebble Partnership, the State of Alaska and others, Northern Dynasty's
submission to the EPA IG raises serious issues of bias, political
motivation and collusion with environmental NGOs in the federal
agency's preparation of the Bristol Bay Assessment.
"The US and Alaska have among the most stringent
environmental laws for the protection of fish and water in the
world, and the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process under
NEPA is the gold standard for ensuring that major project
developments receive comprehensive, transparent and science-based
assessment," Thiessen said. "Given that, along with the global
significance of the Pebble deposit and the inherent,
well-documented limitations of the Bristol Bay Assessment
study, including those acknowledged by EPA itself, we continue to
have every confidence that final decisions about Pebble will be
made in the future following a comprehensive NEPA/EIS permitting
process."
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 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. 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, which holds indirect interests in over 500 sq. miles
of mineral claims in southwest Alaska,
USA. Northern Dynasty's 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. 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.