RE:Pebble wins again!Yes, I agree...I listened to the whole thing and it was a bit of a rocky start because the female judge was pretty interruptive...but later on the EPA Lawyer did a great job directing them to the right direction and they actually listened at the end. The lawyer emphasized there are no standard and that it is only a proposal and was never final.
I also watched the Ron presentation. Here is what I got out of it...
- They hire a Hydrology Engineer to ensure water quality is taken care of. In fact, the Pebble site, they uploaded the "096 Appendix K4.16 - Surface Water Hydrology" on Aug 10, 2020.
- Tom insisted in testing and reviewing everything in detail, spending 2 times the money a normal discovery would do. This is to ensure they have the data and fact to support their recommendation. NAK even ask to do detail study when US Corp said that was not necessary.
- The current permit is only for a small area of what NAK own. Ron mentioned future could be combination of Open Pit or/and Underground. Emphasized lot richer minerals east of Pebble.
- Definitely, mentioned ROD will be 30-45 days so early to mid September.
- After the ROD, Ron said any administration (regardless of who the president/party is) will be very difficult to take away the permit. Unless they go pass a legistration....which will be long and hard to do...and will impact more than just NAK.
- Ron mentioned most companies interested would like to reduce risks...so most likely do a JV upto 50%, anything beyond that requires shareholder vote. I do think it will be multiple partnership with NAK still be in the picture...as Ron mentioned that Northern Dynasty asset is only Pebble...so if they sell, they don't have anything else. Most likely they will remain in the game to get permits for the remaining areas (He mentioned after about 10yrs of the mine in operations)
Overall very positive on the presentation. ROD and other permits require will definitely be this year and the Election will have no impact.