VANCOUVER, June 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Northern
Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (TSX: NDM; NYSE MKT: NAK) ("Northern Dynasty"
or the "Company") reports that its wholly-owned subsidiary,
Alaska-based Pebble Limited Partnership ("Pebble Partnership" or
"PLP") has contracted ASRC Energy Services, Alaska Inc. ("AES"), a
subsidiary of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation ("ASRC"), to work
with the Pebble Project's Alaska Native village corporation
partners in an effort to enhance future Alaska Native contracting
opportunities at Pebble.
"As we gear up for our 2017 field season and prepare to take the
Pebble Project into federal and state permitting, we are also
renewing our commitment to maximize contract and employment
opportunities for local companies and local people," confirmed
Pebble Partnership CEO Tom Collier.
"We know very well the challenging economic circumstances that
confront Alaska Native village corporations and their shareholders
in southwest Alaska, and we are
making investments now to ensure they will benefit to the greatest
extent possible at each stage of the Pebble Project's development –
during permitting, construction, operations and even closure."
AES consultants will lead a collaborative business development
planning initiative to include Alaska Native village corporations
with land holdings near the Pebble Project site, and who have had
contract relationships with PLP in the past. The goal of the
engagement is to inform an Alaska Native contracting strategy for
Pebble – one that establishes complementary contracting roles for
participating village corporations, and directs strategic business
development investments to enhance local companies' capabilities to
fulfill Pebble's future contracting needs.
"For the past 10 years or more, Pebble has had a local
contracting and local employment preference to ensure our project
provides meaningful benefits for local people," Collier said. "But
as we move forward into permitting, it is the appropriate time for
PLP to invest in a more formalized business development program to
ensure that Alaska Native village corporations in our region will
have the experience and capacity necessary to provide contract
services when this project advances to construction and
operations."
Collier said ASRC Energy Services was selected to lead Pebble's
business development initiative based on its experience working
with Alaska Native village corporations to optimize business
opportunities associated with resource development on the North
Slope.
AES is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ASRC, the largest
Alaska-owned company employing
some 12,000 people worldwide, and nearly 4,000 in Alaska. ASRC has a long history of supporting
responsible resource development in the state, and sharing the
benefits of development with its shareholders and other Alaska
Native corporations.
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 US
subsidiary Pebble Limited Partnership and other wholly-owned
subsidiaries, is a 100% interest in a contiguous block of 2,402
mineral claims in southwest Alaska, including the Pebble deposit. The
Pebble Partnership is the proponent of the Pebble Project, an
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 or the outcome of litigation.
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, approvals, licenses and title on a timely basis and delays
due to third party opposition, changes in government policies
regarding mining and natural resource exploration and exploitation,
the final outcome of any litigation, completion of pre-feasibility
and final feasibility studies, preparation of all necessary
engineering for surface or underground mining 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 filings 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.