Pebble Partnership Ltd. said it will file a permit application Friday with the US Army Corps of Engineers for a proposed large copper, gold and molybdenum mine near Lake Iliamna, 200 miles southwest of Anchorage, Alaska.
PPL is a subsidiary of Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd., of Vancouver.
The project has been stalled in recent years by an attempted preemption by the US Environmental Protection Agency that would have blocked the mine, but new EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has dropped the action.
Filing for the permits will initiate a National Environmental Impact Statement process for the mine development, PPL President Tom Collier said.
"Since I have been with the project my main focus has been to initiate the permitting process so that Pebble can be fairly and objectively evaluated by the independent experts hired by the Corps of Engineers," Collier said in a statement.
Northern Dynasty signed an option agreement December 18 with Quantum Minerals Ltd., also of Vancouver, under which First Quantum has made an early payment of $37.5 million toward a total $150 million option payment to be made over four years. That gives Quantum the right to eventually acquire 50% of Pebble for $1.35 billion.
PPL also unveiled a revised project plan in November for a smaller mine compared with its initial plan. Collier said the company believes the scaled-down mine would pass muster with federal and state regulatory agencies and would eventually be accepted by local communities, which opposed a large mine design.
Pebble is one of the world's largest undeveloped copper and gold accumulations but the plan by Northern Dynasty to build a mine located in watersheds that support rich salmon fisheries has prompted opposition from communities and Alaska Native tribes, as well as Alaska commercial fishing groups.
Northern Dynasty has spent about $700 million so far in exploration and will spend another $150 million to get the project through the regulatory process, the company has said.
