Name and Location
Pebble copper/gold/molybdenum project, Alaska, US.

Client
Northern Dynasty Minerals (NDM).

Project Description
The project proposes to construct a large openpit mine; an on-site milling facility; on-site storage for rock, ore and tailings; a port facility; an access road connecting the mine site to the port; an on-site water supply for the mill; and to provide electrical power for the mine site, in south-west Alaska.

In addition, the project plans to include an on-site 378 MW gas-fired turbine plant, a 138 km transportation corridor to Cook Inlet for road and pipeline rights of way and a new deep-water port at Cook Inlet.

The project’s key assets are the near-surface 4.1-billion-tonne openpit-style Pebble West deposit and the deeper and higher-grade 3.4-billion-tonne Pebble East deposit, which is amenable to underground bulk mining methods. The Pebble resources rank among the world’s most important accumulations of copper, gold and molybdenum.

Estimates show that the Pebble deposit comprises measured and indicated resources of 5.94-billion tonnes, grading 0.78% copper equivalent and containing 55-billion pounds of copper, 67-million ounces of gold and 3.3-billlion pounds of molybdenum.

The deposit also has 4.84-billion tonnes of inferred resources, grading 0.53% copper equivalent and containing 26-billion pounds of copper, 40-million ounces of gold and 2.3-billion pounds of molybdenum.

Value
Capital expenditure on Pebble will reach between $6-billion and $8-billion.

Duration
Commercial production is expected by 2015.

Latest Developments
The US Federal District Court has granted the Pebble Limited Partnership’s (PLP’s) request for a preliminary injunction in its litigation against the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), according to PLP parent company NDM.

The EPA in February announced that it would start a regulatory process under Section 404c of the Clean Water Act to determine whether to pre-emptively veto the Pebble project, or whether, and how, to establish restrictions on its development.

The decision followed a report in January that found large-scale mining, as would take place at the Pebble copper/gold/molybdenum project, would pose serious risks to salmon and native cultures in the region.

NDM at that time condemned the EPA's action, stating that the agency was aiming to pre-emptively block the project – billed as one of the largest remaining undeveloped base metal and precious metal resources in the world –  without allowing it to go through the established permitting and environmental review process.

PLP CEO Tom Collier explains that while the injunction does not resolve the company’s claims that the EPA pursued a biased and predetermined 404c veto initiative against Pebble by not complying with the requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), it does block EPA from taking any further steps in the 404c process, until a final decision on the merits of the FACA case has been issued.

“This means that, for the first time, EPA's march to pre-emptively veto Pebble has been halted,” says Collier.

The PLP has raised concerns regarding FACA violations — including that the EPA “secretly colluded” with environmental activists to bring about a predetermined result before undertaking any scientific inquiry — based on the select documents that the EPA has disclosed in response to Freedom of Information Act requests.

“We know these are only the tip of the iceberg. We now have the opportunity to conduct discovery regarding all relevant documents and to conduct depositions of the key people involved in the EPA process. The documents we have been able to review thus far disclose more than 500 contacts between the EPA and activists. We fully expect that once we have access to all documents there may be many times that number,” Collier explains.

“We are heartened by this procedural ruling in Pebble's favour, and look forward to the discovery process and the opportunity to fully argue the merits of our case before the court,” says NDM president and CEO Ron Thiessen.

He adds that Northern Dynasty continues to believe that Pebble is a mineral resource of national importance that deserves to be comprehensively reviewed by federal and state regulatory agencies under the National Environmental Policy Act and Clean Water Act.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Wardrop Engineering (preliminary assessment report).

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
PLP, tel +1 907 339 2600, fax +1 877 450 2600 or email receptionist@pebblepartnership.com.
Wardrop media and public relations, email media@tetratech.com.