A National Instrument 43-101 compliant Technical Report on a Preliminary Assessment of the pebble copper, gold and molybdenum Project in southwest Alaska completed for Northern Dynasty Minerals Limited by Wardrop confirms that Pebble is an economically robust project with the potential to become one of the most important metal producers of the 21st century. The Preliminary Assessment updates and substantially revises project economic analysis last done by Northern Dynasty in 2004 and so constitutes a material change for which a material change report containing the full executive summary will be shortly filed at www.sedar.com and at www.northerndynasty.com, along with a complete copy of the Technical Report.
The Preliminary Assessment is based on Wardrop's comprehensive review of recent engineering and technical studies undertaken principally by the Pebble Limited Partnership and by Northern Dynasty. The economic assessments and other opinions expressed in the Preliminary Assessment are strictly those of Northern Dynasty and Wardrop and do not reflect the views of any other stakeholder in the project. The Pebble Partnership continues to separately undertake detailed engineering studies toward the completion of a Prefeasibility Report for the Pebble Project as contemplated by the 2007 Limited Partnership Agreement, including ongoing programs to engage project stakeholders in the planning process. As such, any project which is ultimately put forward by the Pebble Partnership for permitting under the National Environmental Policy Act may differ from those mine models presented in the Preliminary Assessment.
The Preliminary Assessment describes and assigns potential economic value for three successive development cases:
1. An Investment Decision Case which describes an initial 25 year open pit mine life upon which a decision to initiate mine permitting, construction and operations may be based;
2. A Reference Case which is based on 45 years of open pit mine production and
3. A Resource Case, which is based on 78 years of open pit mine production and seeks to assess the longer term value of the project in current dollars.
The 25 year IDC Case is the only scenario for which a tailings storage facility has been comprehensively engineered, although preliminary engineering studies have identified a number of suitable sites nearby to receive tailings after 25 years. Ongoing investigations undertaken during the first 25 years of mining including construction of an early access shaft would determine the optimal mining method and plan for subsequent phases of development.
For the purposes of its Preliminary Assessment, Wardrop has selected the 45 year Reference Case as its base case. All currency values are in US dollars. Production rates are stated in imperial tons.
A Preliminary Assessment is preliminary in nature and includes Inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves. There is no assurance that the Preliminary Assessment will be realized.
Mr Ron Thiessen president of CEO of Northern Dynasty said that "The Pebble Project is among a handful of mineral projects around the world with the potential to meaningfully enhance global production of copper, gold and molybdenum at a time when worldwide demand is increasingly outstripping supply. After many years of exhaustive geological, environmental and socioeconomic study as well as intensive engineering effort, this Preliminary Assessment confirms Pebble's potential as a modern world class mine that provides decades of benefits to shareholders to the people and communities of Alaska and to the US and global economies."
