US Army Corps announces scoping period for Northern Dynasty’s Pebble project

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – The US Army Corps of Engineers' Alaska District will publish a notice of intent in the US federal register next week to prepare a draft environmental-impact statement (EIS) to review the Pebble Limited Partnership’s (PLP's) application to discharge fill material into US waters for the purpose of developing a copper/molybdenum/gold mine in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska.

The public scoping period is slated to start on April 1 and conclude on April 30.

Scoping is the process used to determine the appropriate contents of an EIS, and the objective is to identify specific elements of the environment that might be affected by the applicant’s proposal.

“We are committed to an open, transparent and timely process for the review of this permit application. Through scoping, we ask the public to help us identify the significant issues to be analysed in the EIS and offer information to shape the alternatives to be reviewed,” stated Alaska District commander Colonel Michael Brooks.

The permit application was made publically available on January 5, and continues to be available on the Corps' website.

Public meetings will be hosted by the Corps during the scoping period in Alaska's regional centres Anchorage, Homer, King Salmon and Dillingham, as well as in villages in close proximity to the Pebble project, including Iliamna, Igiugig, Nondalton and Kokhanok.

In addition to seeking public and stakeholder input during scoping, the Corps will facilitate a formal consultation and public comment process following publication of the Pebble draft EIS – expected sometime in 2019. The Corps' current timeline estimates the final EIS for the Pebble project to be completed within 24 months.

The Corps announced in February that it had appointed a third-party contractor to undertake the EIS.

In December, Northern Dynasty announced a framework agreement with First Quantum Minerals anticipating that an affiliate of First Quantum will subsequently execute a $150-million option agreement with Northern Dynasty, which provides for a future right to acquire a 50% interest in PLP for a further investment of $1.35-billion.