TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The Pebble Limited Partnership (PLP) has approved a budget of about $80-million to advance the world-class Pebble project, located in south-west Alaska, this year, with the goal of starting permitting under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) before the end of the year.

Vancouver-based Northern Dynasty Minerals, which is a 50% partner with Anglo American to develop the project, on Monday said the PLP was now nearing the final stages of completing its project description, following undertaking a substantial pre-permitting planning programme and years of comprehensive study.

"By the time the Pebble Partnership triggers permitting under NEPA, more than $700-million will have been invested to ensure a robust project design from a technical, financial, environmental and social perspective. PLP fully expects that the rigor of that work will be recognised and reflected in the outcome and efficiency of the NEPA permitting process,” Northern Dynasty president and CEO Ronald Thiessen said.

Since the PLP was established in July 2007, a subsidiary of Anglo American had invested about $500-million to advance engineering, environmental and socioeconomic studies. When added to Northern Dynasty's initial $180-million contribution, investments in the Pebble Project totalled $680-million.

This year, the budgeted $80-million in expenditures for the Pebble project would include engineering studies to complete a project description and advance a prefeasibility study; continued environmental monitoring studies in critical areas, including groundwater hydrology, water quality and fisheries resources; site investigations, including exploration, geotechnical and metallurgical drilling, and geo-hydrological testing; and stakeholder engagement and public affairs programming; workforce and business development initiatives; public education and community investment.

"The Pebble Partnership will soon release a national economic impact study of the Pebble project, which, together with the workforce development plan and project planning updates will form the basis for an enhanced public engagement initiative this year. The Pebble Partnership will continue to meet and consult with people and communities throughout south-west Alaska about the many aspects of this project, while listening to their issues and questions and describing how the Pebble project will be built and operated to co-exist with clean water and healthy fisheries, and provide significant benefits to the region and country,” Thiessen said.

Located near Lake Iliamna, around 200 miles south-west of Anchorage and near Bristol Bay and the Cook Inlet, the scale of the deposit is world class.

At a 0.30% copper-equivalent cutoff, measured and indicated resources stand at 5.94-billion tons, comprising 55-billion pounds copper (2.7-million tons copper), 67-million ounces gold and 3.3-billion pounds molybdenum. Inferred resources contain 26-billion pounds copper, 40-million ounces gold and 2.3-billion pounds molybdenum.

In total, capital expenditure on Pebble would reach between $6-billion and $8-billion.