Hunter Dickinson crew gets 14-million Northern Dynasty shares

Vancouver – Following TSX-Venture Exchange approvals, the seven principals of privately-held Hunter Dickinson Group have been issued just over 14 million shares of Northern Dynasty Minerals (NDM-V, NAK-X) for the company and its 20% carried interest in the Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum deposit in southwestern Alaska.

The deal unifies ownership of the project, now held 100% by Northern Dynasty, which is tabled as one of the world’s largest copper-gold resources.

Pebble West hosts a measured and indicated resource of 3 billion tonnes grading 0.28% copper, 0.32 gram gold and 0.015% molybdenum (a 0.56% copper equivalent) using a 0.3% copper-equivalent cutoff. With a 0.5% copper equivalent cut-off, the resource tonnage almost halves to 1.6 billion tonnes at 0.35% copper, 0.39 gram gold and 0.018% molybdenum (0.69% copper equivalent).

Earlier this year, the company also reviewed a preliminary estimate for the Pebble East zone with an inferred resource of 1.8 billion tonnes grading 0.6% copper, 0.37 gram gold per tonne and 0.038% molybdenum (or a 1.05% copper-equivalent grade) using a 0.6% copper-equivalent cutoff grade. Boosting the cutoff grade to 1% copper equivalent drops the inferred tonnage estimate to 947 million tonnes, albeit at higher grades of 0.77% copper, 0.48 gram gold and 0.04% molybdenum (a 1.28% copper-equivalent).

Northern Dynasty tabled a US$20-million, 30,000-metre drill program on Pebble East aimed at expanding and upgrading the deep resource. Permitting and feasibility studies at Pebble West are modeling proposed open-pit operations on the shallower, lower-grade deposit.

In late-2004, Northern Dynasty exercised a purchase option to acquire its initial 80% interest in the project from Teck Cominco (TEK.B-T).

With 75.2 million shares outstanding, the company posts a $775-million market capitalization based on its recent $10.30 trading level.