Northern Dynasty gets Pebble East resource estimate

Vancouver — Initial resource estimates on the deeper, eastern section of Northern Dynasty Minerals‘ (NDM-V, NAK-X) Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum deposit shows a boost in grade over its contiguous western portion. The project is located in southeastern Alaska near the community of Iliamna.

Using a 0.6% copper-equivalent cutoff grade, the Pebble East deposit hosts 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). The contained metal tally comes in at 24.3 billion lbs. (11 million tonnes) copper, 22.1 million oz. gold and 1.55 billion lbs. molybdenum.

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).

Pebble East’s inferred resource shell is based on data from 22 drill holes testing the deeper portion of the large porphyry intrusive system. The east deposit occurs at a depth of more than 500 metres — well below open-pit feasibility — and is being reviewed for its amenability to bulk underground mining. An integrated open-pit/underground operation is being studied.

Northern Dynasty is gearing up for an upcoming 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 modelling proposed open-pit operations on the shallower, lower-grade deposit.

The more advanced 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. Increasing the cutoff to 0.5% copper equivalent almost halves the resource tonnage to 1.6 billion tonnes at 0.35% copper, 0.39 gram gold and 0.018% molybdenum (0.69% copper equivalent).

The company’s planned mega-project hosts one of the world’s larger copper and gold resources, however, development will require significant power and transportation infrastructure. It is situated about 95 km from tidewater at Cook Inlet, near natural gas fields that could supply the energy needs of a large mine.

With 60.1 million shares outstanding, the company posts a $480-million market capitalization based on its recent $8.00-per-share trading level.