Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. announced Wednesday that the company would purchase the residual 50-percent working interest in the Pebble project's Exploration Lands held by Teck Cominco American Inc.
NDI recently purchased all of Teck Cominco's interest in the Resource Lands portion of the Pebble property.
With acquisition of TC's remaining working interest in the Exploration Lands, NDI will own an 80-percent interest in the Resource Lands and an 80-percent interest in the Exploration Lands, NDI President and CEO Ronald W. Thiessen announced in a press release.
The purchase leaves TC with a "maximum 4-percent pre-payback net profits interest" and "a 5-percent after-payback net profits interest" in any mine production from the Exploration Lands portion of the Pebble property, NDI said.
Northern Dynasty holds rights until March 14 to acquire the remaining 20 percent of carried interest in the Pebble Project held by a related party.
That would give NDI a 100-percent working interest in the entire Pebble property, subject only to Teck Cominco's net profits interest in the Exploration Lands portion of the property.
The Pebble property is estimated to hold 2.74 billion tons of gold, copper, molybdenum and other metals. Northern Dynasty hopes to launch an open-pit mining operation there that could be among the biggest in North America.
It already has signed an agreement with Homer Electric Association to study how best to deliver electrical energy to the project and is preparing a full-scale feasibility study to be completed this year. Meanwhile, the company is working with state officials on permitting issues.
