The contentious Pebble project inched forward on Wednesday, as the US Army Corp of Engineers posted a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for the Alaska gold/copper project, sending developer Northern Dynasty’s TSX-listed stock up nearly 20%.
Northern Dynasty subsidiary Pebble Limited Partnership (PLP) CEO Tom Collier said in a statement that the DEIS showed no major data gaps or substantive impacts associated with a mine at the Pebble site. “We see no significant environmental challenges that would preclude the project from getting permit and believe this shows Alaska stakeholders that there is a clear path forward for this project.”
The Corps would facilitate a consultation and public comment process for the Pebble project DEIS in spring.
The Pebble project, which is among the world’s largest-ever copper and gold deposits, stalled under the Barack Obama administration, but plans for an opencast mine near Bristol Bay gained traction under the Donald Trump administration.
Opponents to the project argue that it would have vast environmental impacts, including endangering the world’s largest wild salmon fishery, as well as human health.
Discovered in the late 1990s, the Pebble deposit contains as much as 57-billion pounds of copper, 70-million ounces of gold, 3.4-million pounds of molybdenum and 344-million ounces of silver.
PLP is proposing a conventional openpit mine that will produce an average of 613 000 t/y of copper/gold concentrate, containing 318-million pounds of copper a year, 362 000 oz/y of gold a year and 1.8-million ounces of silver a year over its 20-year mine life.
Shares in Northern Dynasty jumped by as much as 20% to C$1.05 apiece following the news, and closed the day up 13% at C$0.98 a share.