Northern Dynasty in talks to settle EPA litigation, shares hit 5-year high

[Ben Graham]

Northern Dynasty Minerals (TSX: NDM; NYSE-A: NAK) says it’s in talks with the Environmental Protection Agency regarding a potential settlement of ongoing litigation concerning the company’s flagship Pebble project in Alaska. Its shares soared on the update.

In March, the Canadian mine developer filed two separate actions in the federal courts to challenge the EPA’s role in blocking the proposed Pebble mine, which, once built, would be the largest copper, gold and molybdenum extraction site in North America.

In January 2023, the EPA dealt a fatal blow to the project by prohibiting Northern Dynasty’s Alaskan subsidiary from storing mine waste in the Bristol Bay watershed, where some of the world’s largest sockeye salmon fisheries reside. The agency argued that the mine waste could permanently destroy more than 2,000 acres of wetlands protected by the Clean Water Act.

Northern Dynasty, meanwhile, had claimed that the EPA veto contradicts the environmental impact statement published by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in July 2020.

In a press release issued Friday, Northern Dynasty’s president and CEO Ron Thiessen said the discussion with the EPA presents “the fastest path forward” to withdraw the Pebble project veto, adding that the agency has “asked for additional information to assist in finalizing that decision.”

The latest news sent Northern Dynasty Minerals’ shares soaring. The stock rose nearly 25% in Friday’s morning session to C$2.42 apiece, its highest over a tumultuous five-year period for its project. The company’s market capitalization is roughly C$1.25 billion ($920 million).

EPA ‘reconsidering’

Thiessen went on to say that a decision to withdraw the EPA veto would help the US to secure a domestic supply of metals like copper, which is in high demand globally for its use in electrification, and rhenium, a key component in military applications. The project also holds substantial amounts of gold, molybdenum and silver.

According to a 2023 economic study, the Pebble mine would produce 6.4 billion lb. of copper, 7.4 million oz. of gold, 300 million lb. of molybdenum, 37 million oz. of silver and 200,000 kg of rhenium over 20 years, according to the study.

Northern Dynasty’s Pebble copper project gains more time

The EPA, in a July 3 filing, confirmed that it is “open to reconsideration” and welcomes further submissions by Northern Dynasty that may be used to reverse its decision. The parties “currently expect to reach agreement within the next two weeks about what that submission would entail,” the EPA stated.

In a recent interview with The Northern Miner, Thiessen said that “there’s a good chance that the veto can get removed in the near term, maybe sometime this summer.”

The veto’s removal would set the stage for the US Army Corps of Engineers, which has its own approvals process, to revisit its refusal. The corps had said the EPA veto blocked its path.