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.