The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has appointed a new inspector to handle an appeal by Northern Dynasty Mining company (TSX: NDM) against the negative decision record of the large Alaska Pebble copper and gold project.
The new officials are expected to set a detailed timetable for the administrative appeals process, including possible on-site visits and appeals meetings in the coming weeks.
Pebble Limited Partnership, a US subsidiary of the Northern Dynasty, said that given the complexity of the case, Pebble's administrative appeal process could take a year or more. To date, administrative records contain 200000 documents.
Pebble Partnership filed an appeal against the federal license decision in January.
Ron Thiessen, President and CEO of Northern Dynasty, said: "We have been and will continue to pay close attention to the administrative appeal schedule for USACE to advance the Pebble license decision, because we do not think it is in line with the regulations."
At the same time, he pointed out that the new censors have the power to help the United States embark on the path of strategic metal independence, which could enable the United States to produce copper, gold and silver needed for a successful green economy transformation. They can also help ensure that these metals are mined using industry-leading technologies under some of the world's strictest environmental standards, while helping Alaska realize its right to manage its own resources for the benefit of its people.
The project is considered to be one of the largest copper and gold deposits in the world and has experienced roller coaster regulation over the past 13 years.
In November, USACE rejected key water permits for the Pebble mine project. The chief federal regulator found that the compensatory mitigation plan submitted by Pebble earlier this month was "non-compliant" and that the project was "not in the public interest".
The North called the decision "politically motivated" and said it was fundamentally not supported by the administrative records developed by USACE through the Pebble project environmental impact report (EIS) process.
Resource estimates include 6.5 billion tons of measured and indicated categories, including 57 billion pounds of copper and 7100 ounces of gold, 3.4 billion pounds of molybdenum and 345 million ounces of silver, making Pebble the largest mine in North America if licensed.
Trading volume of, Northern Dynasty shares in Toronto has plummeted more than 75 per cent in the past 12 months as the Pebble project continues to be in regulatory trouble. The shares last traded at C $0.475 on Tuesday, giving the company a market capitalization of C $243.63 million.
