Northern Dynasty closes $23M in financings to support Pebble project

Northern Dynasty Minerals (TSX: NDM; NYSE: NAK) has closed its recently announced convertible note and private placement financings for respective totals of US$15 million and $3.42 million, which the company plans to use for its Pebble copper-gold project in Alaska.

CEO Ron Thiessen specifically noted that these funds will be used “in a responsible manner for the benefit of all Alaskans, especially those in southwest Alaska closest to the Pebble project.”

In September, the Vancouver-based miner provided an updated preliminary economic assessment for the Pebble project, adding in an infrastructure plan for a “southern route” access point to the proposed mine, which, if built, would represent the largest in North America and have the largest copper resource in the world.

Over a 20-year mine life, Pebble is expected to unearth 6.4 billion lb. of copper; 7.4 million oz. of gold, 300 million lb. of molybdenum; 37 million oz. of silver, and 200,000 kg of rhenium.

Still, its constructive is a massive “if”, and the combined $23.3 million in recent financings comes despite the multiple large roadblocks the project has faced for almost two decades by local communities as well as three presidential administrations. 

President Joe Biden has openly expressed his opposition to Pebble, taking steps as soon as he took office in 2021 to permanently protect Alaska’s Bristol Bay. Former president Donald Trump opposed the project and deemed it “too risky”, and his predecessor Barack Obama was also almost against it. 

As part of the Biden administration’s measures against Pebble, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) blocked the company in January from storing mine waste in the state’s watershed, home to the world’s largest sockeye salmon fisheries.

In July, the state, led by Governor Mike Dunleavy, filed a motion asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the EPA’s decision, arguing that the move violated a decades-old land swap deal and Alaska’s sovereignty. Northern Dynasty has also not given up and has considered legal options to challenge the EPA.

“The proposed mine for the Pebble project would provide good-paying, year-round employment for thousands of Alaskans, something desperately needed in southwest Alaska,” Thiessen said in a statement earlier this year.

The executive noted that new infrastructure outlined in the new PEA study would offer the additional benefit of potentially lowering energy costs for the region.

Northern Dynasty’s stock was up 3.3% to 46¢ apiece on Thursday afternoon in Toronto. The company’s market capitalization stood at $243.7 million.