U.S. agency blocks Northern Dynasty’s Pebble project in Alaska  

Northern Dynasty Minerals’ (TSX:NDM; NYSE:NAK) contentious Pebble project in southwest Alaska is on the rocks again after the Environmental Protection Agency denied environmental approvals.  

The EPA on Tuesday ruled the gold, copper and molybdenum project, which has been on-again off-again for decades, can’t deposit waste material within the local watershed to safeguard the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery at Bristol Bay, 380 km southwest of Anchorage.  

The decision effectively cancels the project, and any other future development in the watershed, although Northern Dynasty said it would probably appeal to federal court.  

“This preemptive action against Pebble is not supported legally, technically, or environmentally,” John Shively, the project’s chief executive officer, said in an emailed statement. “As such, the next step will likely be to take legal action to fight this injustice.” 

The Pebble deposit was discovered in the late 1980s by what now is Teck Resources (TSX: TECK; NYSE: TECK) and advanced by Northern Dynasty since 2001 through stages of studies, permits and appeals. It would be the North America’s largest mine with a 600-metre-deep pit and a potential US$1 billion in revenue.