Mr. Ronald Thiessen reports

NORTHERN DYNASTY: PEBBLE PARTNERSHIP RETAINS ASRC ENERGY SERVICES TO ENHANCE ALASKA NATIVE CONTRACTING

Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.'s wholly owned subsidiary, Alaska-based Pebble Limited Partnership, has contracted ASRC Energy Services Alaska Inc. (AES), a subsidiary of Arctic Slope Regional Corp. (ASRC), to work with the Pebble project's Alaska native village corporation partners in an effort to enhance future Alaska native contracting opportunities at Pebble.

"As we gear up for our 2017 field season and prepare to take the Pebble project into federal and state permitting, we are also renewing our commitment to maximize contract and employment opportunities for local companies and local people," confirmed Pebble Partnership chief executive officer Tom Collier. "We know very well the challenging economic circumstances that confront Alaska native village corporations and their shareholders in southwest Alaska, and we are making investments now to ensure they will benefit to the greatest extent possible at each stage of the Pebble project's development during permitting, construction, operations and even closure."

AES consultants will lead a collaborative business development planning initiative to include Alaska native village corporations with landholdings near the Pebble project site and who have had contract relationships with PLP in the past. The goal of the engagement is to inform an Alaska native contracting strategy for Pebble, one that establishes complementary contracting roles for participating village corporations and directs strategic business development investments to enhance local companies' capabilities to fulfill Pebble's future contracting needs.

"For the past 10 years or more, Pebble has had a local contracting and local employment preference to ensure our project provides meaningful benefits for local people," Mr. Collier said. "But as we move forward into permitting, it is the appropriate time for PLP to invest in a more formalized business development program to ensure that Alaska native village corporations in our region will have the experience and capacity necessary to provide contract services when this project advances to construction and operations."

Mr. Collier said ASRC Energy Services was selected to lead Pebble's business development initiative based on its experience working with Alaska native village corporations to optimize business opportunities associated with resource development on the North Slope.

About Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.

Northern Dynasty is a mineral exploration and development company based in Vancouver, Canada. Northern Dynasty's principal asset, owned through its wholly owned Alaska-based U.S. subsidiary Pebble LP and other wholly owned subsidiaries, has a 100-per-cent interest in a contiguous block of 2,402 mineral claims in southwest Alaska, including the Pebble deposit. The Pebble partnership is the proponent of the Pebble project, an initiative to develop one of the world's most important mineral resources.

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