Commercial fishermen from Bristol Bay are against Pebble Mine project. (Photo: Commercial Fishermen of Bristol Bay)

Anglo American to drop out of Pebble Mine project

UNITED STATES
Tuesday, September 17, 2013, 23:50 (GMT + 9)

One of the two companies involved in building the Alaska Pebble Mine, in Alaska, has abandoned the project due to concerns that have arisen about the impact it would have on wild salmon.

Canadian Northern Dynasty Minerals and British Anglo American signed a 50/50 partnership in 2007 to participate in the Pebble Partnership. The two companies would design, permit and run the copper mine. But Anglo American took the decision to drop out after stating that it wants to devote itself to lower risk ventures instead, the Anchorage Daily News reported.

The firm will have to face a USD 300 million charge for its decision to stop participating.

“Despite our belief that Pebble is a deposit of rare magnitude and quality, we have taken the decision to withdraw following a thorough assessment of Anglo American’s extensive pipeline of long-dated project options,” the company’s CEO said in a written statement. “Our focus has been to prioritize capital to projects with the highest value and lowest risks within our portfolio.”

As of 30 June, 2013, Anglo American Pebble has injected USD 541 million into the Pebble Project. After its withdrawal, the venture will carry on solely on the shoulders of Northern Dynasty.

In a written statement, Northern Dynasty CEO, Ron Thiessen has remarked that “Northern Dynasty will again own 100 per cent of one of the world's most important copper & gold resources and will have the benefit of USD 541 million worth of expenditures, which opens the door to a number of exciting possibilities for Northern Dynasty and its shareholders and the Pebble Project and its stakeholders. Northern Dynasty and the Pebble Partnership have both the expertise and resources necessary to advance the Pebble Project."

Pebble Partnership has stated in an internal memo that the venture is still important for the state of Alaska and that they would share extra information about the way forward for the project in the near future.

The Pebble Mine is located near the headwaters of tributaries of the Nushagak and Kvichak Rivers.

Completion of the mine would wipe out almost 100 miles of streams and 4,800 acres of wetlands in the Bristol Bay region, an April draft from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concluded.

EPA is seriously thinking of closing the mine in order to protect Alaska’s Bristol Bay salmon.
 

By Gabriela Raffaele
[email protected]
www.seafood.media

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