December 4, 2008 8:30 AM EST
2008 work substantiates size, grade & continuity in Pebble East Area
VANCOUVER, Dec. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (TSX: NDM; AMEX: NAK) announces an updated mineral resource estimate for the Pebble deposit at the Pebble Limited Partnership's ("PLP", or the "Pebble Partnership") project site in southwest Alaska.
Drilling during 2008 has substantiated the volume, grade and continuity of mineralization in the Pebble East area, leading to an overall estimate based on a database of results from 476 holes across the Pebble deposit. The deposit was previously split into a near surface resource for Pebble West and a deeper resource for Pebble East. This is the first time the entire Pebble deposit has been integrated into one estimate. The integrated model for the entire Pebble deposit allows for comprehensive mine planning and other deposit benchmarking.
The updated mineral resources are reported within a defined volume and at various cut-off grades as presented below in the Table of Pebble Deposit Mineral Resources - November 2008.
At a 0.30% copper equivalent (CuEQ)(1) cut-off, the Pebble Deposit Mineral
Resources are:
- 5.1 billion tonnes of Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources
grading 0.77% CuEQ, containing 48 billion pounds of copper,
57 million ounces of gold, and 2.9 billion pounds of molybdenum; plus
- 4.0 billion tonnes of Inferred Mineral Resources grading 0.55% CuEQ,
containing 24 billion pounds of copper, 37 million ounces of gold and
1.9 billion pounds of molybdenum.
The estimate was prepared by the technical staff of the Pebble Partnership and audited by industry leading geological and mining consultants at Scott Wilson Roscoe Postle Associates Inc., under the direction of David W. Rennie, P. Eng., who is the Qualified Person for the estimate. Mr Rennie, an independent Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed this release. A technical report providing details of the estimate will be filed on www.sedar.com within 45 days.
"By virtually any measure - volumes and grade, continuity of mineralization, resource confidence, potential for expansion - Pebble must be considered among the most important mineral deposits in the world," said Northern Dynasty President and CEO Ron Thiessen.
"A modern, long-life mine at Pebble could produce one-quarter of America's domestic copper supply for 50-plus years, along with substantial volumes of gold, molybdenum and potentially other metals such as silver, rhenium and palladium. Along the way, it would generate thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in annual economic activity for the people and communities of Alaska."
PEBBLE DEPOSIT Mineral Resources(2) - November 2008
MEASURED MINERAL RESOURCES
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Cut-Off Size Grade Contained Metal
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Mill- Moly- Molyb-
ion Cop- bden- Cop- den-
CuEQ(1),(3) Ton- per Gold um CuEQ(1) per Gold um
% nes % g/t ppm % B lb M oz M lb
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0.30 526 0.33 0.35 178 0.62 3.8 5.9 210
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0.40 499 0.34 0.36 181 0.63 3.7 5.7 200
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0.60 239 0.42 0.43 207 0.76 2.2 3.3 110
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1.00 21 0.64 0.63 305 1.14 0.3 0.4 10
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INDICATED MINERAL RESOURCES
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Cut-Off Size Grade Contained Metal
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Mill- Moly- Molyb-
ion Cop- bden- Cop- den-
CuEQ(1),(3) Ton- per Gold um CuEQ(1) per Gold um
% nes % g/t ppm % B lb M oz M lb
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0.30 4,570 0.44 0.35 265 0.78 44.6 51.3 2,670
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0.40 4,120 0.48 0.37 273 0.83 43.2 48.7 2,480
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0.60 2,851 0.57 0.42 307 0.98 36.1 38.2 1,930
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1.00 1,135 0.79 0.53 340 1.28 19.8 19.3 850
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MEASURED + INDICATED MINERAL RESOURCES
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Cut-Off Size Grade Contained Metal
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Mill- Moly- Molyb-
ion Cop- bden- Cop- den-
CuEQ(1),(3) Ton- per Gold um CuEQ(1) per Gold um
% nes % g/t ppm % B lb M oz M lb
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0.30 5,096 0.43 0.35 256 0.77 48.5 57.2 2,870
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0.40 4,619 0.46 0.37 263 0.81 46.9 54.4 2,680
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0.60 3,090 0.56 0.42 300 0.96 38.3 41.5 2,040
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1.00 1,156 0.79 0.53 340 1.27 20.1 19.7 850
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INFERRED MINERAL RESOURCES
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Cut-Off Size Grade Contained Metal
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Mill- Moly- Molyb-
ion Cop- bden- Cop- den-
CuEQ(1),(3) Ton- per Gold um CuEQ(1) per Gold um
% nes % g/t ppm % B lb M oz M lb
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0.30 3,968 0.27 0.29 220 0.55 23.7 36.9 1,920
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0.40 2,267 0.37 0.35 260 0.71 18.6 25.5 1,300
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0.60 1,160 0.53 0.43 303 0.93 13.4 16.0 770
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1.00 413 0.74 0.50 400 1.24 6.7 6.6 360
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Note (1) Copper equivalent calculations used metal prices of US$1.80/lb
for copper, US$800/oz for gold and US$10/lb for molybdenum and
metallurgical recoveries of 91% for copper, 75% for gold and 90%
for molybdenum in the Pebble West area and 93% for copper, 80%
for gold and 94% for molybdenum in the Pebble East area.
Revenue is calculated for each metal based on grades, recoveries
and selected metal prices; accumulated revenues are then divided
by the revenue at 1% copper. Recoveries for gold and molybdenum
are normalized to the copper recovery, as shown below:
CuEQ (Pebble West) = Cu % + (Au g/t x 75%/91% x
25.72/39.68) + (Mo % x 90%/91% x 220.46/39.68)
CuEQ (Pebble East) = Cu % + (Au g/t x 80%/93% x
25.72/39.68) + (Mo % x 94%/93% x 220.46/39.68).
Note (2) By prescribed definition, "Mineral Resources" do not have
demonstrated economic viability. An Inferred Mineral Resource is
that part of a mineral resource for which quantity and grade can
be estimated on the basis of geological evidence and limited
sampling and reasonably assumed, but not verified, geological
and grade continuity The mineral resources fall within a
volume or shell defined by long-term metal price estimates of US
$2.50/lb for copper, US$900/oz for gold and US$25/lb for
molybdenum.
Note (3) For bulk underground mining, cut-offs such as 0.60% CuEQ, are
typically used for porphyry deposit bulk underground mining
operations at copper porphyry deposits located around the world.
A 0.30% CuEQ cut-off is considered to be comparable to that used
for porphyry deposit open pit mining operations in the Americas.
All mineral resource estimates and cut-offs are subject to a
feasibility study.
The Pebble Limited Partnership was established in July 2007 as a 50:50 partnership between a wholly-owned affiliate of Northern Dynasty and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Anglo American plc. Under the terms of the agreement, Anglo American funds $1.425 to $1.5 billion of project costs to acquire a 50% interest, including expenditures of US$180 million in 2007/2008. The Pebble Partnership is currently preparing a Prefeasibility Study for the Pebble Project, and is expected to enter the federal and state permitting process under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in 2010.
Review Canadian public filings at www.sedar.com and US public filings at www.sec.gov.
Ronald W. Thiessen
President and CEO
