Northern Dynasty Minerals (TSX: NDM) has cleared the last hurdle for its proposed Pebble copper-gold mine in Alaska almost two decades after developers first started considering the project.
The US Army Corps of Engineers issued on Friday a final environmental impact statement (EIS), backing the controversial mine in the salmon-rich Bristol Bay.
The decision opens the door for Northern Dynasty to obtain the federal go-ahead as soon as late August.
Opponents to the project didn’t wait to express their discontent.
“The science is overwhelmingly clear: the proposed Pebble Mine is a catastrophe waiting to happen,” said Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation.
“It’s simply unconscionable to fast-track such a high-risk project with a shoddy environment review that failed to evaluate the consequences should the proposed six-story dam fail and release 10 billion gallons of toxic waste into Bristol Bay’s treasured, pristine ecosystem,” O’Mara noted.
Tom Collier, chief executive officer of Pebble Partnership, the project developer pointed to the economic contributions the mine would make to the region, particularly small communities near the project in the Lake and Peninsula Borough where jobs are scarce.
“The final EIS shows the tremendous economic opportunity a project like Pebble could mean for the residents of Southwest Alaska. It shows that the communities closest to Pebble could have year-round employment and increased economic activity,” Collier said.
Contentious project
Since Teck Resources’ predecessor, Cominco, began exploring the prospect in the 1980s, Pebble has divided conservationists, local activists, fishermen and regulators.
Northern Dynasty acquired Pebble in 2005. Two years later, it entered into a 50:50 partnership with Anglo American (LON:AAL) to develop the massive deposit.
The Canadian miner became again the sole owner of Pebble in 2013, after Anglo American walked away from the project in which it had invested $573 million.
Pebble’s permitting process has been surrounded by controversy and delays. Perhaps one of the most publicized issues was the US Environmental Agency’s (EPA) decision in 2014 to propose restricting the discharge of mining waste and other material in the area.
Criticism prompted the Vancouver-based company to submit a new, smaller mine plan that includes lined tailings, and discard the use of cyanide in the gold extraction process.
Pebble began moving forward after the change in US administration. In July last year, Northern Dynasty scored a big win as the EPA scrapped the proposed restrictions on mining operations in Bristol Bay, which prevented the project’s consideration.
The agency also issued a letter at the time, saying the project may result in substantial and unacceptable impacts to aquatic resources. That observation was a specific step in a sequence established to deal with inter-agency disagreements over Clean Water Act permits.
A draft version of the EIS released in February, however, indicated that the project could co-exist with the fisheries and water resources of the Bristol Bay area.
The news was followed in May by the EPA issuing a new letter that downplayed the possible loss of streams and other wetlands the project might cause.
If permitted, Pebble would be North America’s largest mine, according to a study by the Center for Science in Public Participation.
Current resource estimate includes 6.5 billion tonnes in the measured and indicated categories containing 57 billion pounds of copper and 71 million ounces of gold, 3.4 billion pounds of molybdenum and 345 million silver ounces.