Exhibit 99.1
Northern Dynasty: US Army Corps of Engineers’ claim that
economic costs of Pebble Project outweigh project benefits
contradicts the administrative record
March 15, 2021 Vancouver – Northern Dynasty Minerals
Ltd. (TSX: NDM; NYSE American: NAK) ("Northern Dynasty" or the
"Company") reports that its Request for Appeal (“RFA”)
of a federal permitting decision concerning Alaska’s Pebble
Project challenges key conclusions reached by the US Army Corps of
Engineers (“USACE”) with respect to the project’s
economic benefits and costs.
Prepared
and submitted by the Company’s 100%-owned US-based subsidiary
Pebble Limited Partnership (the “Pebble Partnership”),
the RFA asserts that the USACE’s Public Interest Review
(“PIR”) for the Pebble Project, published coincident
with its Record of Decision (“ROD”) in November 2020,
is contrary to the law and inconsistent with the record –
including the Final Environmental Impact Statement
(“EIS” or “FEIS”). The Pebble Partnership
believes the social and economic impact conclusions drawn by the
USACE in the PIR give
“undue weight to
speculative harms not supported by the record while giving little
weight to the Project’s undisputed benefits to local
communities, the region, and the State.”
(RFA p. 3)
A
complete version of the RFA document can be viewed at:
https://www.northerndynastyminerals.com/investors/rfa/
The
USACE accepted the Pebble Partnership’s RFA last month, and
has appointed a Review Officer to oversee the administrative appeal
process. While federal guidelines suggest the appeal should
conclude within 90 days, the USACE has indicated the complexity of
issues and volume of materials associated with Pebble’s case
means the review will likely take additional time.
Pebble asserts USACE findings are unsubstantiated
The
Pebble Partnership’s RFA asserts that ‘economic
detriments’ associated with Pebble as cited by the USACE are
vague and speculative, whereas the significant, long-term
socioeconomic benefits of the project for local communities, the
region, the state and the nation are well documented in the
FEIS.
The
FEIS documents a broad range of regional and statewide benefits
associated with Pebble, including:
●
direct and indirect
employment in local communities, which currently face a dearth of
full-time, year-round, well-paid jobs;
●
reduced
transportation and energy costs in a region that currently faces
one of the highest costs of living in the nation;
●
beneficial economic
effects on minority and low-income communities;
●
potential to offset
the current high rate of outmigration in southwest Alaska, as
residents leave in search of economic opportunities
elsewhere;
●
hundreds of
millions of dollars in government revenues over the life of the
project, with potential corresponding state and local spending on
health, education and other valued public services.
“In sum, the record demonstrates the
significant, long-term socioeconomic benefits of the Project to
local communities, including jobs, infrastructure, health,
education and decreased cost of living. Nonetheless, the ROD
outrageously asserts that there are adverse economic effects that
would outweigh the benefits at the local and regional level. The
District relies on pure conjecture to support this
finding.” (RFA p. 38)
PLP asserts that ROD findings on ‘subsistence’
contradict FEIS
Among
the ‘economic detriments’ the USACE cites is that
development of the Pebble Project could lead to less subsistence
activity in local communities, resulting in less ‘wild
food’ for local residents. The Pebble Partnership RFA argues
that this conclusion is contrary to experience at other Alaska
mines, where work rotations permit local employees to participate
in traditional in-season subsistence activities, as well as FEIS
findings that indicate Pebble will have no effect on the
availability of subsistence fish and wildlife
resources.
The RFA
asserts that the USACE’s ROD statements about potential
detrimental project effects on subsistence are pure conjecture, and
are directly contradicted by the FEIS, which cites an extensive
subsistence study undertaken in the Pebble Project
area.
USACE
in Pebble Project ROD: “If
high-harvesting members of the community find project-related
employment and have less time for subsistence activities, the rest
of the community and households in other communities could end up
receiving less wild food through sharing and trading relationships.
Increased employment of adults in the communities could impede the
amount of time spent teaching young people to hunt, fish, gather,
process, and preserve subsistence resources which would impact the
amount and quality of traditional knowledge passed on to younger
generations, potentially resulting in a long-term or permanent
adverse effect to communities.” (RFA p.
38)
USACE in Pebble Project FEIS: “The effect of income on
subsistence success (i.e., subsistence production) is evident among
households with unique demographic structures. The magnitude of the
effect of income is such that in many communities, 30 percent of
households produce 70 percent of the subsistence harvest. These
“super households” are distinguished because they
include multiple working-age males, tend to have high incomes, and
often are involved in commercial fishing. These three factors
support high-producing households to be able to combine subsistence
activities with paid employment and to arrange considerable labor
in flexible ways that maximize harvests of subsistence foods, which
are then shared with other households in the community and
region.
”
(RFA p. 40)
Pebble
Partnership RFA: “Local
community members can make their own decisions as to how to best
meet subsistence and other community needs, including whether to
pursue mine employment in the first place. The idea that it is a
detriment to have a project that offers employment because jobs
could change the local way of life is an insult to the adaptability
of the local communities.” (p. 40)
PLP asserts post-closure ‘economic detriments’ are
actually baseline conditions
Many of
the ‘economic detriments’ the USACE cites are, in the
Pebble Partnership’s view, changes that could occur
after the
proposed Pebble mine concludes operations. For instance, the ROD
asserts that post-closure “some residents may move to find new
employment” and “some decreases of cost of living may increase
to pre-project levels.” The USACE also suggests local
residents who have gotten used to steady income from Pebble-related
employment and economic activity may have to adjust their
lifestyles.
The
Pebble Partnership’s RFA objects to the USACE’s
conclusion about post-closure ‘economic detriments’ on
multiple grounds, including that they are not supported by the
record.
“The
implication being that locals would be better off never having the
jobs and associated benefits in the first place so that they do not
have to ‘adjust’ when the jobs go away. This conjecture
has no support in the record. It also unfairly assumes local
communities are unable to save, invest, and otherwise plan for such
economic change. The FEIS, by contrast, recognizes that local
communities could use the Project revenue to make long-term
improvements, including to community infrastructure and community
health care facilities.” (RFA p. 39)
“…even
if these impacts occur, the District does not explain why these are
“detriments” caused by the Project as opposed to a
return to baseline conditions. If the 20+ years of mine-related
employment gives the local community greater economic stability,
reduces out-migration, and lowers the cost of living for two
decades – isn’t that still an economic benefit even if
the conditions return to baseline after closure? Moreover, the
assumption that all socioeconomic benefits would return to
pre-project levels (or worse) is nowhere supported in the
record.” (RFA p. 39)
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, 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. 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 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) the completion 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