VANCOUVER, Nov. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Northern Dynasty
Minerals Ltd. ("Northern Dynasty" or the "Company") (TSX: NDM; NYSE
MKT: NAK) announces that the Pebble Limited Partnership (the
"Pebble Partnership" or "PLP") has appointed Dan Easton as Vice President of Environment to
lead the Pebble Project's environmental program, including
permitting and environmental studies.
Dan Easton is a
civil engineer with 30 years of experience working on environmental
compliance and regulatory oversight in Alaska. His background includes 13 years at
the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC)
permitting agency, where he supervised four major operating
divisions implementing waste water discharge and air quality
permitting, as well as all state environmental programs, including
spill prevention and response, drinking water, solid waste
management and environmental health. Mr. Easton also founded Easton
Environmental, a successful consulting environmental engineering
company where he worked on projects including remediation of Prince
William Sound shorelines after the Exxon Valdez oil spill. For
several years, he owned and operated a commercial fishing vessel
and participated in Southern
Alaska's longline groundfish fishery.
Most recently, Mr. Easton served as
Environmental and Regulatory Affairs Manager on the early design
phase of a major multi-billion dollar Liquefied Natural Gas project
in Western Australia.
President and CEO Ron
Thiessen commented, "Dan's extensive involvement in
state-wide permitting programs and understanding of Alaskan
environments make him the natural choice for Vice President of
Environment. As the Pebble Partnership continues to methodically
advance a development plan that will protect fisheries and water
quality, Dan's leadership and expertise will help ensure that
mitigation strategies for the Pebble Project are scientifically
sound and sufficient before going through the rigorous
environmental permitting and regulatory requirements of state and
federal agencies."
About the Pebble Project
The Pebble Project is an initiative of PLP to
responsibly develop a globally significant copper, gold and
molybdenum deposit in southwest Alaska into a modern, long-life mine. The
project is located 200 miles southwest of Anchorage on state land
designated for mineral exploration and development. It is situated
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.
The Pebble Project consists of the Pebble
deposit, surrounding mineral claims and a stream of financing being
provided by Northern Dynasty's project partner Anglo American US
(Pebble) LLC. The Pebble Partnership was established in
July 2007 as a 50:50 partnership
between a wholly-owned affiliate of Northern Dynasty and a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Anglo
American plc. Both Northern Dynasty and Anglo American have equal ownership and
direction of the Pebble Partnership.
Under the terms of the Pebble Limited
Partnership Agreement, Anglo
American is required to elect to commit $1.5 billion in staged investments in order to
retain its 50% interest in the Pebble Project. Funds provided by
Anglo American are currently being
invested in comprehensive exploration, engineering, environmental
and socioeconomic programs toward the future development of the
Pebble Project.
About Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.
Northern Dynasty is a mineral exploration and
development company based in Vancouver,
Canada, which holds indirect interests in over 600 sq. miles
of mineral claims in southwest Alaska,
USA. Northern Dynasty's principal asset is a 50% interest in
the Pebble Partnership, owner of the Pebble Project. The Pebble
Project is an advanced-stage initiative to develop one of the
world's most important mineral resources.
Ronald W.
Thiessen
President & CEO
Sole Responsibility
No regulatory authority accepts responsibility
for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Northern Dynasty is
solely and entirely responsible for the contents of this news
release. No other party, including any parties which have an
interest in the project, are in any way responsible for the
contents hereof.
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, especially
those that address estimated resource quantities, grades and
contained metals, are forward-looking statements because they are
generally made on the basis of estimation and extrapolation from a
limited number of drill holes and metallurgical studies. Although
diamond drill hole core provides valuable information about the
size, shape and geology of an exploration project, there will
always remain a significant degree of uncertainty in connection
with these valuation factors until a deposit has been extensively
drilled on closely spaced centers, which has occurred only in
specific areas on the Pebble Project. 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. 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.
Information Concerning Estimates of Measured,
Indicated and Inferred Resources
This news release uses the terms "measured
resources", "indicated resources" and "inferred resources".
Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. advises investors that although
these terms are recognized and required by Canadian regulations
(under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for
Mineral Projects), the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission does
not recognize them. Investors are cautioned not to assume that any
part or all of the mineral deposits in these categories will ever
be converted into reserves. In addition, "inferred resources"
have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence, and
economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or
any part of an Inferred Mineral Resource will ever be upgraded to a
higher category. Under Canadian rules, estimates of Inferred
Mineral Resources may not form the basis of feasibility or
pre-feasibility studies, or economic studies except for Preliminary
Assessment as defined under 43-101. Investors are cautioned not to
assume that part or all of an inferred resource exists, or is
economically or legally mineable.
SOURCE Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.