Rio Tinto Employee Resigns from the Northern Dynasty Board

It’s unclear if Stephen Scott's resignation from the Northern Dynasty Minerals Board of Directors is a precursor to Rio Tinto divesting itself of their 19-percent interest in Northern Dynasty.

Rio Tinto currently holds a 19-percent interest in Northern Dynasty and has come under pressure to divest itself of its interest due to the controversial nature of the proposed Pebble Mine.

LINK (via:KDLG)

Rio Tinto, the largest iron-ore miner in the world, has had a turbulent 12 months.

Anti-Pebble Ads Praising Begich Raise Eyebrows

Political ads touting Senator Begich's statements against Pebble appear to have been last summer or fall, months before his position was public.

Not sure why anyone would try to make a big deal out of this but given the stakes involved I guess everyone is looking to score public relations points wherever possible.

LINK (via:KDLG)

Meanwhile .....

Several members of the Alaska Legislature sent a letter of support earlier this month to the head of the company looking at developing the controversial Pebble Mine in the Bristol Bay region. The letter was signed by 8 lawmakers including the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House.

All of the lawmakers are Republicans.

We Can’t Eat Gold in Bristol Bay

Bobby Andrew, a Native Yup'ik spokesman and staunch opponent of the Pebble Mine, discusses the struggle so far, the importance of Indigenous solidarity, and the award winning film We Can't Eat Gold, directed by Joshua Tucker.

LINK (via: IC Magazine)

Murkowski said she and her staff are still reviewing the EPA report

Profiles in courage.

Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski said in a briefing with reporters that the state, and not the federal government, should decide the fate of the Pebble Mine.

Unlike her senate colleague Mark Begich, who now officially opposes the mine based on the EPA report, Murkowski opted to punt instead of staking out a position on whether Pebble should ever be built.

LINK (via: Anchorage Daily News)

Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2014/01/20/3283273/state-not-feds-should-decide-pebbles.html#storylink=cLINK (via: The Anchorage Daily News)

He's the first member of Alaska's current congressional delegation to speak out firmly in opposition to the mine

Another nail in the Pebble coffin.

Alaska Sen. Mark Begich says that he's concluded the proposed Pebble mine cannot be developed without harming the Bristol Bay region's world-famous red salmon runs.

"Wrong mine, wrong place, too big," Begich said in an interview. "Too many potential long-term impacts to a fishery that is pretty critical to that area but also to Alaska, to world markets."

LINK (via: Anchorage Daily News)

Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2014/01/19/3281944/begich-on-pebble-wrong-mine-wrong.html#storylink=cpy

EPA releases Bristol Bay Assessment

In February of 2011 the Environmental Protection Agency launched the Bristol Bay watershed assessment, two years later they have released their final report on the impacts of the proposed Pebble Mine.

Dennis McLerran, regional administrator for Seattle-based Region 10 of the EPA, outlined the findings:

“Our report concludes that large scale mining poses risks to salmon and the tribal communities that have depended on them for thousands of years.” 

Needless to say Northern Dyansty President Ron Thiesson was crying foul.

“Publication of the final watershed assessment (by EPA) is really the final chapter in a very sad story . . . We believed the EPA set out to do a flawed analysis of the Pebble Project and they certainly succeeded.”

LINK (via: Seattle PI)

It will be interesting to see how the investment community and Northern Dynasty's remaining partner Rio Tinto react.