EPA open to idea of Pebble settlement
A.J. Roan, North of 60 Mining News, July 9, 2025
Federal agency has reviewed the case; requests additional time, information.
Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. announced July 4 an update on its ongoing litigation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, confirming that the company and EPA are now in negotiations to explore a potential settlement over the Pebble project veto.
Following a 90-day pause requested in February and a 30-day extension granted in May to allow new leadership time to assess the case, a filing submitted to U.S. District Court on July 3 noted that EPA officials had completed their review and that discussions with Pebble Limited Partnership were underway.
“[A]gency officials were briefed on the litigation and have been actively considering the agency decisions. Agency officials remain open to reconsideration, and defendants and PLP are negotiating to explore a potential settlement. Those discussions have addressed a potential further submission from PLP that would inform any agency reconsideration,” the filing states.
Seen by Northern Dynasty as a promising development in its yearslong effort to overturn the EPA’s preemptive veto, the ongoing talks were characterized by President and CEO Ron Thiessen as a potential breakthrough.
“We are pleased to be in discussions with the EPA, because we see this as the fastest path forward for withdrawal of the veto,” he said.
While the case remains ongoing, Thiessen characterized the potential reversal of the veto not only as a regulatory milestone, but as a matter of national resource strategy.
“A decision to withdraw this egregious and unsubstantiated veto would help the U.S. to secure a domestic supply of metals like copper, which is critical for the economy because of its fundamental use in electrification, and rhenium, which is a key component in several military applications,” he added. “It also provides the opportunity for significant economic benefits over generations in this region of Alaska, the state and the country and would be consistent with the stated pledge of this administration to remove impediments to permitting.”
The joint filing also requested an additional 14-day extension of the current abeyance, with both parties indicating they expected to reach agreement within two weeks on the contents of the proposed submission. A status update is due to the court by July 17.
Released over a market holiday, word of the potential settlement did not reach the boards until trading resumed, when Northern Dynasty’s stock climbed 17.9% in pre-market on July 7 and continued upward, peaking at $2.12 by July 9.
Momentum continued after President Trump’s July 8 announcement of a 50% tariff on copper imports, a move tied to a February executive order reviewing copper trade on national security grounds.
At the time, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro described the tariff as a measure to counter China’s expansion in the copper sector and address broader national security vulnerabilities.
Containing an estimated 6.4 billion pounds of copper, 300 million lb of molybdenum, 7.4 million ounces of gold, 37 million oz of silver, and 200,000 kilograms of rhenium, Pebble represents one of North America’s largest untapped sources of metals critical to the clean energy transition and national security.
If a resolution is reached between Pebble and the EPA, resulting in withdrawal of the veto, the world-class copper mine project would be positioned to re-enter the federal and state permitting processes.
This will likely reignite conversations around Pebble’s potential as a domestic supply of critical metals essential to advancing U.S. energy independence, national security, and technological leadership – and whether the world’s largest undeveloped deposit of copper and gold should be developed at all.