Northern Dynasty Minerals Files Audited Statements, MD&A and Annual Information Form for The Year Ended December 31, 2009
For further details on Northern Dynasty please visit the Company's website at www.northerndynasty.com or contact Investor services at (604) 684-6365 or within North America at 1-800-667-2114. Review Canadian public filings at www.sedar.com and US public filings at www.sec.gov.
Marchand Snyman
Chief Financial Officer
Northern Dynasty: Continuous Disclosure
All other information contained in the originally filed condensed interim financial statements remains unchanged. This revised condensed interim financial statements for the period ended September 30, 2009 does not reflect events occurring after the filing of the original condensed interim financial statements, or modify or update the disclosure therein, in any way other than as required to reflect the amendments set forth herein.
For further details on Northern Dynasty please visit the Company's website at www.northerndynasty.com or contact Investor services at (604) 684-6365 or within North America at 1-800-667-2114. Review Canadian public filings at www.sedar.com and US public filings at www.sec.gov.
Marchand Snyman
Chief Financial Officer
Pebble Limited Partnership Initiates US $73 Million Work Program for 2010
"The Pebble Project in southwest Alaska is recognized as the most important undeveloped copper-gold-molybdenum deposit in the United States and among the most significant accumulations of metal ever discovered," said Northern Dynasty President & CEO Ron Thiessen. "Not only does Pebble have the potential to be one of the great metal producers of the 21st century, it could also redress a growing gap between US domestic copper supply and demand while providing a new employment and economic engine for the State of Alaska.
It's a critically important project for the United States, and that's why the Pebble Partnership has been so methodical and deliberate about engineering the optimal project design to initiate permitting next year."
Between 2001 and 2007, Northern Dynasty invested some US$180 million to acquire and advance the Pebble Project, including vastly expanding known mineral resources and discovering high-grade mineralization in the eastern part of the deposit.
Since the Pebble Partnership was formed with Anglo American in July 2007, Anglo has invested some US$250 million to advance project engineering and prepare for project permitting. A project engineering team comprised of 20 senior engineers and technical specialists from Anglo American and Northern Dynasty, as well as 58 leading engineering firms and specialized consultancies from around the world, has been working toward the completion of a Prefeasibility Study for the Pebble Project. Once finalized, PLP will share its proposed development plan with project stakeholders in the State of Alaska prior to initiating permitting under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
"The engineering program underway at the Pebble Project today, and the comprehensive environmental and socioeconomic studies that have informed that effort, represent the most exhaustive pre-permitting planning exercise in the history of U.S. mineral development," Thiessen said. "By the time we apply for development permits next year, some US$500 million will have been invested to ensure we have designed the best possible project from a technical, financial, environmental and socioeconomic perspective. We fully expect the quality of that work to be reflected in the outcome and efficiency of the permitting process."
Budgeted expenditures at the Pebble Project in 2010 include:
- an engineering program to work towards finalizing a Prefeasibility Study and prepare for project permitting in 2011;
- an environmental and socioeconomic study program to continue baseline data collection in key areas (e.g. hydrology, water quality, fish resources) and to complete an Environmental Baseline Document in preparation for project permitting;
- a geology and site investigation program headquartered in Iliamna, Alaska to undertake ongoing exploration drilling, and support engineering and environmental studies;
- a public affairs program to engage project stakeholders and local communities, and advance key initiatives in the areas of workforce development, business development and public consultation; and
- corporate and administrative costs.
The Pebble Project is located in southwest Alaska on state land designated for mineral exploration and development. It is situated approximately 1,000 feet above sea-level, 65 miles from tidewater on Cook Inlet and presents favorable conditions for successful mine site and infrastructure development.
The Pebble Partnership was established in July 2007 as a 50:50 partnership between a wholly-owned affiliate of Northern Dynasty and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Anglo American plc. To retain its 50% interest, Anglo American is required to invest US$1.425 to $1.5 billion to advance the Pebble Project toward permitting and operations -- including those funds authorized for expenditure through 2010.
With Anglo American's required staged investment in Pebble, Northern Dynasty does not expect to face any significant financial commitments until permitting is complete and project construction is underway. The Company has a favorable cash position with reserves of US $42.4 million and a shareholder base that includes two of the largest mining and metals companies in the world. Rio Tinto owns 19.8% of Northern Dynasty shares and Mitsubishi Corp. owns 11%.
For further details on Northern Dynasty please visit the Company's website at www.northerndynasty.com or contact Investor services at (604) 684-6365 or within North America at 1-800-667-2114. Review Canadian public filings at www.sedar.com and US public filings at www.sec.gov.
Ronald W. Thiessen
President & CEO
No regulatory authority accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Northern Dynasty is solely and entirely responsible for the contents of this news release. No other party, including any parties which have an interest in the project, are in any way responsible for the contents hereof.
This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, especially those that address estimated resource quantities, grades and contained metals, are forward-looking statements because they are generally made on the basis of estimation and extrapolation from a limited number of drill holes and metallurgical studies. Although diamond drill hole core provides valuable information about the size, shape and geology of an exploration project, there will always remain a significant degree of uncertainty in connection with these valuation factors until a deposit has been extensively drilled on closely spaced centers, which has occurred only in specific areas on the Pebble Project. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in its forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements should not be in any way construed as guarantees of the ultimate size, quality or commercial feasibility of the Pebble Project or of the Company's future performance. The likelihood of future mining at the Pebble Project is subject to a large number of risks and will require achievement of a number of technical, economic and legal objectives, including obtaining necessary mining and construction permits, completion of pre-feasibility and final feasibility studies, preparation of all necessary engineering for underground workings and processing facilities as well as receipt of significant additional financing to fund these objectives as well as funding mine construction. Such funding may not be available to the Company on acceptable terms or on any terms at all. There is no known ore at the Pebble Project and there is no assurance that the mineralization at the Pebble Project will ever be classified as ore. The need for compliance with extensive environmental and socio-economic rules and practices and the requirement for the Company to obtain government permitting can cause a delay or even abandonment of a mineral project. The Company is also subject to the specific risks inherent in the mining business as well as general economic and business conditions. For more information on the Company, Investors should review the Company's annual Form 40-F filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and its home jurisdiction filings that are available at www.sedar.com.
Updated Mineral Resource Estimate Confirms the Pebble Project as North America's Most Important New Copper-Gold-Molybdenum Development Opportunity
Additional core drilling conducted at the Pebble Project site has verified the grade and distribution of mineralization in the high-grade eastern portion of the deposit, while substantially increasing the amount of contained metal and upgrading the confidence classification. The new drill results, in concert with revised economic parameters, have resulted in an improved mineral resource estimate for the Pebble deposit.
The new Pebble resource estimate is based on 509 core holes, including 37 new holes drilled since mid-2008, and updates the estimate released on December 4, 2008. The new estimate represents a 17% increase in resources within higher confidence measured and indicated categories, and a 12%, 14% and 16% increase in contained copper, gold and molybdenum, respectively.
"The quantity, grade and continuity of mineralization at Pebble, as well as the fact that more than 55% of the resource is now classified in measured and indicated categories, demonstrate the project's potential to be one of the great metal producers of the 21st century," said Northern Dynasty President & CEO Ron Thiessen. "Based on this estimate, the Pebble Project has further entrenched its status among the top-tier of global copper and molybdenum resources, and the most significant undeveloped gold resource in the world."
Mineral resources are reported at various cut-off grades as presented in the Table of Pebble Deposit Mineral Resources -- January 2010 below.
At a 0.30% copper equivalent (CuEQ, see Note 1) cut-off, the Pebble Deposit Mineral Resources comprise:
- 5.94 billion tonnes of Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources grading 0.78% CuEQ, containing 55 billion pounds of copper, 67 million ounces of gold, and 3.3 billion pounds of molybdenum; and
- 4.84 billion tonnes of Inferred Mineral Resources grading 0.53% CuEQ, containing 25.6 billion pounds of copper, 40.4 million ounces of gold, and 2.3 billion pounds of molybdenum.
The estimate was prepared for the Pebble Partnership. David Gaunt, P.Geo., a qualified person as defined under 43-101 who is not independent of Northern Dynasty, is responsible for the estimate. He has reviewed the contents of this release. A technical report providing details of the estimate will be filed on www.sedar.com within 45 days.
The Pebble Project is located in southwest Alaska on state land designated for mineral exploration and development. It is situated approximately 1,000 feet above sea-level, 65 miles from tidewater on Cook Inlet and presents favourable conditions for successful mine site and infrastructure development. The Pebble Partnership is working to advance a Prefeasibility Study for the Pebble Project and preparing to initiate project permitting under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in 2011, a process estimated to take 2 - 3 years to complete.
The Pebble Partnership was established in July 2007 as a 50:50 partnership between a wholly-owned affiliate of Northern Dynasty and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Anglo American plc. To retain a 50% interest, Anglo American is required to invest US$1.425 to $1.5 billion to advance the Pebble Project toward permitting and operations.
MEASURED MINERAL RESOURCES
INDICATED MINERAL RESOURCES
MEASURED + INDICATED MINERAL RESOURCES
INFERRED MINERAL RESOURCES
Recoveries for gold and molybdenum are normalized to the copper recovery as show below:
Note 2 By prescribed definition, "Mineral Resources" do not have demonstrated economic viability. An Inferred Mineral Resource is that part of a mineral resource for which quantity and grade can be estimated on the basis of geological evidence and limited sampling and reasonably assumed, but not verified, geological and grade continuity. The mineral resources fall within a volume or shell defined by long-term metal price estimates of US$2.50/lb for copper, US$900/oz for gold and US$25/lb for molybdenum.
Note 3 For bulk underground mining, cut-offs such as 0.60% CuEQ, are typically used for porphyry deposit bulk underground mining operations at copper porphyry deposits located around the world. A 0.30% CuEQ cut-off is considered to be comparable to that used for porphyry deposit open pit mining operations in the Americas.
Note 4 All mineral resource estimates, cut-offs and metallurgical recoveries are subject to a feasibility study.
Cut-Off
Size
Grade
Contained Metal
CuEQ
%Tonnage
Cu
%Gold
g/tMo
ppmCuEQ
%Copper
B lb Gold
M ozMo
B lb
0.30
527,000,000
0.33
0.35
178
0.65
3.8
5.9
0.21
0.40
508,000,000
0.34
0.36
180
0.66
3.8
5.9
0.20
0.60
277,000,000
0.40
0.42
203
0.77
2.4
3.7
0.12
1.00
27,000,000
0.62
0.62
301
1.16
0.4
0.5
0.02
Cut-Off
Size
Grade
Contained Metal
CuEQ
%Tonnage
Cu
%Gold
g/tMo
ppmCuEQ
%Copper
B lbGold
M ozMo
B lb
0.30
5,414,000,000
0.43
0.35
257
0.80
51.3
60.9
3.07
0.40
4,891,000,000
0.46
0.36
268
0.85
49.6
56.6
2.89
0.60
3,391,000,000
0.56
0.41
301
1.00
41.9
44.7
2.25
1.00
1,422,000,000
0.77
0.51
342
1.30
24.1
23.3
1.07
Cut-Off
Size
Grade
Contained Metal
CuEQ
%Tonnage
Cu
%Gold
g/tMo
ppmCuEQ
%Copper
B lb Gold
M ozMo
B lb
0.30
5,942,000,000
0.42
0.35
250
0.78
55.0
66.9
3.28
0.40
5,399,000,000
0.45
0.36
260
0.83
53.6
62.5
3.09
0.60
3,668,000,000
0.55
0.41
293
0.98
44.5
48.3
2.37
1.00
1,449,000,000
0.76
0.52
341
1.29
24.3
24.2
1.09
Cut-Off
Size
Grade
Contained Metal
CuEQ
%Tonnage
Cu
%Gold
g/tMo
ppmCuEQ
%Copper
B lb Gold
M ozMo
B lb
0.30
4,835,000,000
0.24
0.26
215
0.53
25.6
40.4
2.29
0.40
2,845,000,000
0.32
0.30
259
0.66
20.1
27.4
1.62
0.60
1,322,000,000
0.48
0.37
289
0.89
14.0
15.7
0.84
1.00
353,000,000
0.69
0.45
379
1.20
5.4
5.1
0.29
Note 1 Copper equivalent calculations used metal prices of US$1.85/lb for copper, US$902/oz for gold and US$12.50/lb for molybdenum, and metallurgical recoveries of 85% for copper, 69.6% for gold, and 77.8% for molybdenum in the Pebble West area and 89.3% for copper, 76.8% for gold, 83.7% for molybdenum in the Pebble East area. Recovery values reflect average results of metallurgical testwork completed to date and are subject to revision pending ongoing metallurgical studies. Revenue is calculated for each metal based on grades, recoveries and selected metal prices: accumulated revenues are then divided by the revenue at 1% copper.
For further details on Northern Dynasty please visit the Company's website at www.northerndynasty.com or contact Investor Services at (604) 684-6365 or within North America at 1-800-667-2114. Review Canadian public filings at www.sedar.com and US public filings at www.sec.gov.
CuEQ (Pebble West) = Cu % + (Au g/t x 69.6%/85% x 29.00/40.79) + (Mo % x 77.8%/85% x 275.58/40.79)
CuEQ (Pebble East) = Cu% + (Au g/t x 76.8%/89.3% x 29.00/40.79) + (Mo % x 83.7%/89.3% x 275.58/40.79)
Ronald W. Thiessen
President and CEO
ALS Chemex in North Vancouver, Canada (an ISO 9003 certified facility) is the main laboratory for the analysis of drill core samples from the Pebble Project. Duplicate samples are analyzed by Acme Analytical Laboratories of Vancouver, Canada.
Pebble Fund Provides Second Round of Grants to Bristol Bay Community Groups
The second cycle of Pebble Fund grants follows a $1 million contribution made to 33 non-profit recipients in March 2009. It is estimated that grant monies provided through the Pebble Fund have leveraged nearly $10 million in additional funding to support community development projects throughout the Bristol Bay region. "The Pebble Fund presents the Pebble Partnership with an effective means of working with local communities to strategically invest in projects that demonstrably improve socioeconomic opportunities and quality of life in southwest Alaska," said Ron Thiessen, President & CEO of Northern Dynasty. "Northern Dynasty is very pleased with both the quality of community initiatives funded and the decisions taken by the Pebble Fund advisory board in selecting 18 recipients from a worthy field of applicants."
The Pebble Fund is administered by the non-profit Alaska Community Foundation, with grant criteria and successful recipients determined by an independent advisory board of citizens representing communities from throughout the Bristol Bay region. Awards fall into four primary categories: renewable resources/fish; energy; education; and community and economic development.
Some of the projects receiving funding during the fall 2009 cycle of Pebble Fund grants include: the second phase of a Bristol Bay Elders Action Group Community Food Bank project to enhance dry goods storage and distribution of traditional foods; a project to increase access to safe drinking water and improve public health in the City of Nondalton; an economic development project of the Pilot Point Tribal Council to support local fishermen through the purchase of a dock crane for the Dago Creek Dock; among others.
The Pebble Fund was established in February 2008 as a five-year, $5 million commitment to support community-led initiatives that enhance the health of Bristol Bay fisheries and contribute to a sustainable economic future in southwest Alaska. The third cycle of Pebble Fund grants will be awarded next spring.
"The Pebble Partnership made a commitment to help the people of Bristol Bay before we even have a project, and adopted that commitment as a core principal in how we will operate," said Pebble Partnership CEO John Shively. "Through the Pebble Fund we are meeting that commitment and we look forward to the work they will undertake during the next grant cycle in the spring."
Based in Anchorage, Alaska, the Pebble Partnership was established in July 2007 as a 50:50 partnership between a wholly-owned affiliate of Northern Dynasty and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Anglo American plc. To retain its 50% interest, Anglo American is required to continue its staged investment of $1.425 to $1.5 billion to advance the Pebble Project towards permitting and operations.
Northern Dynasty is a mineral development company, based in Vancouver, Canada. Its principal assets are a 50% interest in the Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum deposit in southwest Alaska, 153 square miles of associated resource lands, as well as a partnership funding agreement with Anglo American. Pebble is the most important undeveloped porphyry deposit in the United States, and possesses the grades and size to support a modern, long-life mine.
For further details on Northern Dynasty please visit the Company's website at www.northerndynasty.com or contact Investor services at (604) 684-6365 or within North America at 1-800-667-2114. Review Canadian public filings at www.sedar.com and US public filings at www.sec.gov.
Ronald W. Thiessen
President & CEO