ndm_ex991
Exhibit 99.1
Northern Dynasty: US Army Corps of Engineers accepts Pebble
Partnership Request for Appeal
February 26, 2021 Vancouver – Northern Dynasty
Minerals Ltd. (TSX: NDM; NYSE American: NAK) ("Northern Dynasty" or
the "Company") reports the US Army Corps of Engineers
(“USACE”) has accepted Pebble Limited
Partnership’s request to initiate an administrative appeal
process with respect to southwest Alaska’s Pebble Project and
a negative ‘Record of Decision’ (“ROD”)
issued by its Alaska District in November 2020.
On
January 19, 2021, Northern Dynasty’s 100%-owned, US-based
subsidiary Pebble Limited Partnership (the “Pebble
Partnership”) submitted a Request for Appeal
(“RFA”) to the USACE’s Pacific Ocean Division
Engineer headquartered in Hawaii. In a letter dated February 24,
the USACE confirmed the Pebble Partnership’s RFA is
“complete and meets the criteria for
appeal.”
The
USACE Alaska District published a final Environmental Impact
Statement (“EIS”) for the proposed
copper-gold-molybdenum-silver-rhenium mine in July 2020, finding
that Pebble would “not have measurable effects” on fish
populations or fisheries in southwest Alaska. Despite this, the
USACE published a ROD on November 25, 2020 denying Pebble a key
permit under the Clean Water
Act on the grounds that its ‘compensatory mitigation
plan’ (“CMP”) is non-compliant and the project is
not in the ‘public interest.’
Northern
Dynasty believes that key aspects of the USACE’s ROD and
permitting decision – including its ‘significant
degradation’ finding, its ‘public interest
review’ findings and its perfunctory rejection of
Pebble’s CMP – are contrary to law, unprecedented in
Alaska and fundamentally unsupported by the administrative record,
including the Pebble Project EIS.
A full
version of the Pebble Partnership’s RFA can be viewed at:
https://northerndynastyminerals.com/site/assets/files/4888/plp-request-for-appeal-poa-2017-00271-jan-19-2021.pdf
USACE
guidelines indicate the administrative appeal process should
conclude within 90 days, although it may be extended under certain
circumstances.
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 U.S. subsidiary, Pebble
Limited Partnership (“PLP”), is a 100% interest in a
contiguous block of 2,402 mineral claims in southwest Alaska,
including the Pebble deposit, located 200 miles from Anchorage and
125 miles from Bristol Bay. PLP 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 and the Pebble Project, please
visit the Company's website at www.northerndynastyminerals.com or
contact Investor services at (604) 684-6365 or within North America
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
US
Media Contact:
Dan
Gagnier
Gagnier
Communications
(646)
569-5897
Forward Looking Information and other Cautionary
Factors
This
release includes certain statements that may be deemed
"forward-looking statements" under applicable law. All statements
in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that
address permitting, development and production for the Pebble
Project are forward-looking statements. These statements include
statements regarding (i) the mine plan for the Pebble Project, (ii)
the social integration of the Pebble Project into the Bristol Bay
region and benefits for Alaska, (iii) the political and public
support for the permitting process, (iv) the ability to
successfully appeal the negative Record of Decision and secure the
issuance of a positive Record of Decision by the US Army Corps of
Engineers and the ability of the Pebble Project to secure state
permits, (v) the right-sizing and de-risking of the Pebble Project,
(vi) the design and operating parameters for the Pebble Project
mine plan, (vii) exploration potential of the Pebble Project,
(viii) future demand for copper and gold, (ix) the potential
partnering of the Pebble Project, and (x) the ability and timetable
of NDM to develop the Pebble Project and become a leading copper,
gold and molybdenum producer. Although NDM believes the
expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements are
based on reasonable assumptions, such statements should not be in
any way be construed as guarantees that the Pebble Project will
secure all required government permits, establish the commercial
feasibility of the Pebble Project or develop the Pebble Project.
Assumptions used by NDM to develop forward-looking statements
include the assumptions that (i) the Pebble Project will obtain all
required environmental and other permits and all land use and other
licenses without undue delay, (ii) studies for the development of
the Pebble Project will be positive, (iii) NDM’s estimates of
mineral resources will not change, (iv) NDM will be able to
establish the commercial feasibility of the Pebble Project, and (v)
NDM will be able to secure the financing required to develop the
Pebble Project. 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 (i) obtaining necessary mining and
construction permits, licenses and approvals without undue delay,
including without delay due to third party opposition or changes in
government policies, (ii) finalization of the mine plan for the
Pebble Project, (iii) thecompletion of feasibility studies
demonstrating that any Pebble Project mineral resources that can be
economically mined, (iv) completion of all necessary engineering
for mining and processing facilities, (v) the inability of NDM to
secure a partner for the development of the Pebble Project, and
(vi) receipt by NDM of significant additional financing to fund
these objectives as well as funding mine construction, which
financing may not be available to NDM on acceptable terms or on any
terms at all. NDM is also subject to the specific risks inherent in
the mining business as well as general economic and business
conditions, such as the current uncertainties with regard to
COVID-19.
The
National Environment Policy Act Environmental Impact Statement
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 significantly from that currently contemplated. As a result,
the Company will continue to consider various development options
and no final project design has been selected at this
time.
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