Alaska mine developer Northern Dynasty wins U.S. EPA reprieve, shares soar (updated)

Northern Dynasty Minerals

30/07/2019 22:43

(Adds details of project, EPA and company comment)
    By Nichola Saminather
    TORONTO, July 30 (Reuters) - The Trump administration said
on Tuesday it would lift an Obama-era restriction on the world's
biggest undeveloped gold and copper resource owned by Northern
Dynasty Minerals Ltd  NDM.TO , sending the Canadian company's
shares soaring. 
    Under former U.S. President Barack Obama, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency in 2014 proposed limits on
large-scale mining in Alaska's Bristol Bay area, citing
environmental concerns. Under President Donald Trump, the EPA
has dismantled scores of environmental rules  and Trump rejects
mainstream climate science.
    Northern Dynasty's site is near Lake Iliamna in southwestern
Alaska between the headwaters of two rivers that drain into
Bristol Bay, and is known for its huge salmon runs, wilderness
and abundant brown bears.
    The development of the mine, near one of the biggest sockeye
salmon fisheries on earth, has been fiercely opposed by
environmentalists, native groups and fishermen for years.
    The proposed restrictions were based on hypothetical
scenarios that were different from Northern Dynasty's submitted
permit application, the EPA said in a statement. 
    Shares of Vancouver-based Northern Dynasty surged to close
up 67% at C$1.20, their highest level since March. 
    "Finally, this Administration has reversed the outrageous
federal government overreach inflicted on the State of Alaska by
the Obama Administration," Tom Collier, Chief Executive of
Pebble Partnership, which is owned by Northern Dynasty, said in
a statement.
    The decision eliminates "a preemptive veto of a hypothetical
mine and (focuses) EPA’s environmental review on an actual
project before the Agency," EPA General Counsel Matthew Leopold
said.
    The pebble mine is expected to produce 70 million tons of
gold, molybdenum and copper ore a year and create a pit 1,970
feet (600 meters) deep.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N20F6MY
    The company will still need to go through the permit
application process, the EPA said.

 (Reporting By Nichola Saminather; Editing by Bill Berkrot and
Grant McCool)
 ((Nichola.Saminather@thomsonreuters.com; +1-416-687-7604;))