Canada’s Northern Dynasty on Wednesday reported that a preliminary version of the final environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Pebble project, in Alaska, has indicated that the project could co-exist with the fisheries and water resources of Bristol Bay.
The TSX- and NYSE American-listed company said the US Army Corps of Engineers had distributed the preliminary version of the final EIS to federal, state and local cooperating agencies.
The draft document is currently under review by regulatory agencies, including the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Alaska tribes.
The US Army Corps of Engineers’ website forecasts that a final EIS and record of decision for the Pebble project will be complete by mid-2020.
Pebble Partnership CEO Tom Collier commented that the information in the near final report was positive and demonstrated the project can be done without harming the Bristol Bay fishery and would be beneficial to communities closest to the project.
“We are encouraged by the information in this leaked copy of the executive summary and believe the final EIS will support issuing a permit for the construction of a mine at Pebble and that it can be done responsibly.”
For decades, developers have been beckoned by the lode in southwestern Alaska, which boasts millions of tons of gold, copper, molybdenum and other minerals near the headwaters of two rivers flowing into Bristol Bay. But conservationists, local activists, fishermen and federal regulators have argued that industrial, openpit mining operations to extract the bounty threatens the region’s flourishing sockeye salmon fishery.
Northern Dynasty’s stock traded 8% higher at C$0.50 a share at 10:00 in Toronto.