Drill at Pebble project site. Credit: Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.
Northern Dynasty Minerals (TSX: NDM; NYSE-A: NAK) says it has filed a motion in Alaska’s federal district court seeking a summary judgment briefing schedule with respect to its pending litigation over the veto of its flagship mine project during the Biden Administration.
For more than two decades, the Vancouver-based miner has been looking to develop its Pebble project, touted as one of the world’s largest copper-gold-molybdenum resources. However, the proposed mine has faced stern local opposition and undergone a protracted period of review due to its location near the Bristol Bay watershed, where some of the world’s largest sockeye salmon fisheries reside.
In January 2023, the US Environmental Protection Agency used its Clean Water Act authority to block the company’s Alaskan subsidiary from storing mine waste in the area, essentially killing the project. In its argument, the EPA said the mine would destroy more than 2,000 acres of wetlands.
If built, the Pebble mine would be the largest copper, gold and molybdenum extraction site in North America. A 2023 economic study estimated that it would produce 6.4 billion lb. of copper, 7.4 million oz. of gold and 300 million lb. of molybdenum, plus 37 million oz. of silver and 200,000 kg of rhenium, over 20 years.
In a bid to overturn the EPA’s decision, the Vancouver-headquartered miner filed in March 2025 two separate actions in federal courts. Two Alaska native villages also sued the EPA in June for the potential impacts its decision could have on the local economy.
Earlier this month, Northern Dynasty said it had begun talks with the EPA on potential settling the ongoing litigation, a move that it believes presents “the fastest path forward” to withdraw the Pebble project veto. It also confirmed that the EPA has “asked for additional information to assist in finalizing that decision.”
No settlement yet
However, in a press release issued this week, president and CEO Ron Thiessen stated that a settlement has yet to be reached, and as a result, the company has asked the federal court to set a briefing schedule for summary judgment motions.
“We now believe that will be the quickest, most direct avenue to get the veto removed,” Thiessen said. “We will continue to work with the relevant government agencies to resolve this issue. Meanwhile we are confident that the court will agree with our assessment that the issuance of the veto by the Biden administration was unlawful.”
Prior to issuing the press release on Thursday, shares of the company had plummeted by more than 55% — its largest single-day drop since 2020. The decline extended into Friday’s session, with the TSX-listed stock falling another 45% at the open, before paring some losses.
By 2 p.m. in Toronto, it traded at C$1.33 apiece — its lowest in two months — with a market capitalization of C$714.7 million.