Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process to
begin in Q1 2018
VANCOUVER, Jan. 5, 2018 /CNW/ - Northern Dynasty Minerals
Ltd. (TSX: NDM; NYSE MKT: NAK) ("Northern Dynasty" or the
"Company") announces that its wholly-owned US-based subsidiary
Pebble Limited Partnership (the "Pebble Partnership") has received
notice from the US Army Corps of Engineers ("USACE" or the "Corps")
that the Clean Water Act 404 permitting documentation it submitted
on December 22, 2017 has been
accepted. In confirming that Pebble's application is complete, the
Corps has confirmed that an Environmental Impact Statement ("EIS")
level of analysis is required to comply with its National
Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA") review of the Pebble Project, and
has proposed a Memorandum of Agreement ("MOA") to guide development
of that process.
"Pebble expects to finalize an MOA in the very near-term, and
immediately distribute a 'Request for Proposal' to begin the
process whereby the Corps will select the independent third-party
contractor that will support them in the development of the Pebble
EIS – the document that will be the basis for decisions made by
federal permitting agencies," said Northern Dynasty CEO
Ron Thiessen. "We are pleased by the
expediency with which permitting for the Pebble Project has been
initiated, and that the Corps will serve as the lead federal agency
for the rigorous, objective, transparent and science-based EIS
process."
To initiate the NEPA EIS permitting process, the Pebble
Partnership applied for a Clean Water Act 404 permit, which
specifies that the USACE will serve as the lead federal agency. The
Corps is consulting with a number of other federal and state
regulatory agencies and anticipates that they will participate in
the EIS process as cooperating agencies – including the US
Environmental Protection Agency, the US Fish & Wildlife
Service, National Marine Fisheries Service and the State of Alaska.
Pebble's permit application documents, including a 'Project
Description' that comprehensively sets out the project the Pebble
Partnership proposes to develop, is available
at http://www.poa.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/Public-Notices-Section-Homepage/.
The Project Description is also available on the Northern Dynasty
website under Pebble Project/Project Status.
As the NEPA EIS process requires a comprehensive
'alternatives assessment' be undertaken to consider a broad range
of development alternatives, the final project design and operating
parameters for the Pebble Project and associated infrastructure may
vary from that set out below.
The Proposed Pebble Mine
The Pebble Partnership is proposing to develop the Pebble
copper-gold-molybdenum porphyry deposit in southwest Alaska as an open pit mine, with associated on
and off-site infrastructure, including:
- a 230 megawatt power plant located at the mine site;
- an 83-mile transportation corridor from the mine site to a port
site on the west side of Cook Inlet;
- a permanent, year-round port facility near the mouth of
Amakdedori Creek on Cook Inlet; and,
- a 188-mile natural gas pipeline from the Kenai Peninsula to the Pebble Project
site.
Following four years of construction activity, the proposed
Pebble mine will operate for a period of 20 years. This includes 14
years of mining using conventional drill-blast-shovel operations,
followed by six years of milling material from a low-grade ore
("LGO") stockpile. The mining rate will average 90 million tons per
year, with 58 million tons of mineralized material going through
the mill each year (160,000 tons per day), for an extremely low
life-of-mine waste to ore ratio of 0.1:1.
Pebble Partnership CEO Tom
Collier reiterated that Pebble has taken great strides in
recent years to re-design its project in response to stakeholder
concerns. The development proposed in Pebble's Project Description
is substantially smaller than previous iterations, and presents
significant new environmental safeguards, including:
- a development footprint less than half the size previously
envisaged;
- the consolidation of most major site infrastructure in a single
drainage (the North Fork Koktuli), and the absence of any primary
mine operations in the Upper Talarik drainage;
- a more conservative Tailings Storage Facility ("TSF") design,
including enhanced buttresses, flatter slope angles and an improved
factor of safety;
- separation of potentially acid generating ("PAG") tailings from
non-PAG bulk tailings for storage in a fully-lined TSF;
- no permanent waste rock piles; and
- no cyanide usage.
"These are very substantial improvements that we have engineered
over the past few years in response to the priorities and concerns
of project stakeholders," Collier said. "We believe that as people
become more familiar with our proposed project design and the
environmental safeguards it incorporates, there will an increasing
degree of support for the project, and the significant economic
potential it represents for the State of
Alaska."
Mine Site Facilities and Operations
- Mine site facilities will include: an open pit; a TSF; a LGO
stockpile; overburden stockpiles; quarry sites; water management
ponds; milling and processing facilities; and, supporting
infrastructure, such as the power plant, water treatment plants,
camp facilities and storage facilities.
- The open pit will be developed in stages with final dimensions
of ~6,500 feet in length, ~5,500 feet in width and depths between
1,330 and 1,750 feet. A total of 1.2 billion tons of material will
be mined, including 1.1 billion tons to be processed through the
mill and 100 million tons of waste rock.
- Non-PAG waste rock will be used as a construction material for
on-site roads and TSF embankments. The minority of waste rock
considered PAG will be stored in a lined LGO stockpile until mine
closure, at which time it will be back-hauled to the open pit for
permanent sub-aqueous storage.
- Mineralized material will be processed via conventional froth
flotation. On average, the process plant will produce ~600,000 tons
of copper-gold concentrate each year, containing ~287 million lb
copper, ~321,000 oz gold and 1.6 million oz silver, and ~15,000
tons of molybdenum concentrate each year, containing ~13 million lb
molybdenum.
- A single TSF located in the North Fork Koktuli drainage will
store 1.1 billion tons of tailings generated over 20 years of mine
operations. About 88% will be non-PAG bulk tailings; the remaining
12% will be pyritic (PAG) tailings, which will be stored
sub-aqueously in a separate, fully-lined cell within the TSF.
- A total of four TSF embankments ranging from 600 (main
embankment) to 60 feet (east embankment) in height will be
developed, with centre-line or downstream construction methods used
for all external embankments, and a conservative 2.6:1
(horizontal:vertical) slope applied to ensure safety and stability
under all operating conditions (including maximum possible flood
and seismic events).
Transportation Corridor
- Pebble has proposed an 83-mile transportation corridor from the
mine site to a port site on the west side of Cook Inlet. The
proposed road corridor has been designed to minimize impact on
wetlands, minimize stream crossings and avoid areas of known
subsistence and recreational use.
- The transportation corridor includes: a 30-mile private,
30-foot wide gravel road from the mine site to a ferry terminal on
the north shore of Lake Iliamna; an 18-mile crossing of Lake
Iliamna using a custom-designed ice-breaking ferry; and a 35-mile
private, 30-foot wide gravel road from the south shore of Lake
Iliamna to a port site at Amakdedori. Spur roads will connect the
Pebble transportation system to the villages of Iliamna, Newhalen and Kokhanok.
- Daily transportation of mineral concentrate, mining equipment
and supplies will require up to 35 round trips by truck each day,
and one round trip by ferry.
Port
- A permanent, year-round port facility constructed at Amakdedori
on the west side of Cook Inlet will facilitate the direct loading
of mineral concentrate onto Handysize bulk carrier vessels, as well
as the delivery via barge of mining equipment and supplies.
- The port will include shore-based facilities to receive and
store containers and fuel, as well as two two-megawatt natural gas
power generators, associated infrastructure and facilities. The
port's marine component will include a causeway extending out to a
marine jetty in 15-feet on natural water depth to facilitate
roll-on/roll-off barge access and a separate berth for Handysize
vessels. A dredged channel will be required to access the berth for
Handysize ships.
- Port operations will facilitate up to 25 concentrate shipments
via Handysize bulk carrier vessels each year, and up to 30 marine
barge loads of mining equipment and supplies.
Power Plant & Natural Gas Pipeline
- To meet the mine's power requirements while providing
sufficient peaking capacity and N+1 redundancy, a 230 megawatt
power plant utilizing a high-efficiency combustion turbine or
reciprocating engine generators operating in a combined-cycle
configuration will be built at Pebble. Waste heat from the power
plant will be used to heat mine buildings and supply process heat
to water treatment plants.
- The mine site power plant, as well as smaller generating
facilities at the port site and ferry landing sites, will be
supplied by a 188-mile pipeline to connect with existing natural
gas supply infrastructure near Happy Valley on the Kenai Peninsula.
From Happy Valley, a buried steel pipeline will travel south for
nine miles to a compressor station near Anchor Point, which will feed a 94-mile subsea
pipeline across Cook Inlet to come ashore at the Amakdedori port
site. From the port site, the natural gas pipeline will traverse 81
miles to the mine site in three sections. It will be buried in a
trench adjacent to the road prism on the south and north sides of
Lake Iliamna, and run under Lake Iliamna for a distance of 18 miles
between ferry landing sites.
Water Management
- Pebble has proposed a comprehensive water management plan to
provide sufficient water for mine operations, to minimize the
volume of water diverted from natural flows, to discharge surplus
waters captured at the mine site in a strategic manner to optimize
downstream habitat conditions for salmon and other species, and to
ensure water quality is maintained in all local streams.
- The Pebble mine will employ two water treatment plants to
ensure that surplus water discharged into nearby streams meets
applicable water quality standards, and is properly conditioned for
aquatic life. Sufficient water storage, pumping capacity and
treatment plant redundancy has been incorporated into the design to
ensure that water management goals can be achieved under all
operating conditions.
Reclamation and Closure
- The Pebble Project has been 'designed for closure', in order
that facilities can be removed and land reclaimed in such a way
that it can be returned to a stable and productive state.
- Reclamation and closure activities will include: removal of
mill and other facilities not required in the post-closure period;
hauling of PAG waste rock into the open pit for sub-aqueous
storage; recontouring of disturbed areas and placement of
overburden for revegetation; installation of water management
features to provide for long-term water quality monitoring and
treatment.
- Prior to commencing construction, a Project Reclamation and
Closure Plan must be approved and an associated financial assurance
mechanism be put in place to ensure that the required financial
resources are available to fund costs associated with physical
closure of the project and long-term post-closure monitoring, water
treatment and site maintenance.
- By regulation, Pebble's Project Reclamation and Closure Plan
must be updated every five years to address any changes in closure
and post-closure requirements, and associated financial
obligations.
Workforce
- The Pebble Project will directly employ ~2,000 workers during
its four-year construction phase, and ~850 workers during its
20-year operations phase.
Northern Dynasty will be updating its 2014 Technical Report to
reflect the information in the Project Description.
Stephen Hodgson, PEng, Vice
President Engineering for Northern Dynasty reviewed and approved
the technical information in this news release.
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.
For further details on Northern Dynasty or the Pebble Project,
please visit the Company's website at
www.northerndynastyminerals.com or contact Investor Services at
(604) 684-6365 or within North American at 1-800-667-2114.
Review Canadian public filings at www.sedar.com and US public
filings at www.sec.gov
Ronald W. Thiessen
President & CEO
Forward Looking Information and 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 a partnering transaction is subject
to risks related to the satisfactory completion of due diligence
and negotiations, including finalization of definitive agreements
and fulfilment of conditions precedent therein, including receipt
of all necessary approvals. Such process may not be
successfully completed or completed on terms satisfactory to the
Company. 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.