Mr. Ronald Thiessen reports

NORTHERN DYNASTY CONFIRMS FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT FOR ALASKA'S PEBBLE PROJECT DESCRIBES A MODERN, ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND MINE THAT CAN CO-EXIST WITH CLEAN WATER AND HEALTHY FISHERIES

Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. and its 100-per-cent-owned U.S.-based subsidiary Pebble LP have completed a comprehensive review of the final environmental impact statement (final EIS) for the proposed Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum project, as published by lead federal regulator the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) last week.

Northern Dynasty president and chief executive officer Ron Thiessen confirmed the final EIS for the Pebble project describes a modern mineral development project that can fully co-exist with the subsistence, commercial and recreational fishing resources of southwest Alaska, while protecting water quality, downstream flows and associated aquatic habitat. The USACE also found Pebble can make a significant socio-economic contribution to the Bristol Bay region, its residents and communities, as well as to state and local governments.

"In completing our comprehensive technical and legal review of the final EIS for the Pebble project, a document comprising more than 2,000 pages plus appendices, I can confirm that it describes a project of considerable merit that will fully protect important environmental values in the project area, that will create tremendous benefits for Alaska's people and governments, and one we expect to secure a positive record of decision later this summer," Mr. Thiessen said.

"But don't take my word for it. I encourage anyone with an interest in Pebble, in Bristol Bay fisheries, in the vibrant indigenous cultures of southwest Alaska or the state of Alaska itself to find out for themselves by reading the final EIS executive summary and supporting documents at [the Pebble project EIS website]."

While the USACE is the lead federal regulator for the Pebble EIS process, much of the work behind the scenes was completed by AECOM -- the third party EIS contractor selected in early 2018. AECOM is a globally recognized engineering, environmental, construction and infrastructure development firm with a long history of providing regulatory compliance and other professional services associated with the development of large, complex mineral, and oil and gas development projects in Alaska and the United States.

Mr. Thiessen said AECOM's extensive global experience and reputation as an engineering and environmental leader adds additional credibility to the EIS findings. He said the final EIS, published July 24, 2020, is clear that development activities proposed at Pebble would not affect the number of adult salmon returning to Bristol Bay watersheds, nor the value of the fishery:

• "Impacts to Bristol Bay salmon are not expected to be measurable ..." (4.24-47)
• "Other salmon fisheries in Alaska exist in conjunction with non-renewable resource extraction industries." (ES 86).

The final EIS also concludes that Pebble's potential effects on fish and fisheries will be undetectable at the level of the Bristol Bay region as a whole (about 40,000 square miles), within the two large drainage areas in which project facilities are located (about 23,000 square miles), or even within the direct project area (about 10 square miles):

• "(The project) would not have measurable effects on the number of adult salmon returning to the Kvichak and Nushagak river systems as a result of project construction and operations, due the limited lineal footage of upper Koktuli River fish habitat affected by placement of fill." (4.6-9)
• "The mine site area is not connected to the Togiak, Ugashik, Naknek, and Egegik watersheds and is not expected to affect fish populations or harvests from these watersheds." (table 4.6-1, P4.6-4)
• "Considering the physical characteristics and current fish use of habitat to be removed, the consequently low densities of juvenile Chinook and coho observed in the affected tributaries, and the few numbers of spawning coho observed (see Section 3.24, Fish Values), impacts to anadromous and resident fish populations from these direct habitat losses would not be measurable, and would be expected to fall within the range of natural variability." (4.24-46)

Similarly, the final EIS finds that the proposed Pebble mine would not impact water resources in a manner that affects aquatic species or local communities:

• "There would be no effects on any community groundwater or surface water supplies from the changes in groundwater flows at the mine site." (ES 67)
• "With few exceptions, predicted changes in habitat in the modeled portion of the upper mainstem Koktuli River (upstream of the Swan River) are near zero or positive, suggesting that project effects from flow changes would not negatively impact reaches downstream of the NFK and SFK confluence, or in UTC." (4.24-13)

Pebble's potential to create 850 direct, high-wage jobs and 2,000 total jobs is widely expected to have a dramatic and positive impact, both regionally and statewide. The final EIS points to a range of other positive socioe-conomic benefits:

• "Reduced transportation costs would likely lower the high cost of living for the communities near the transportation corridor. ... . The natural gas pipeline would also provide opportunities for adjacent communities to lower their winter heating costs, a positive impact." (4.3-3)
• "Reduced transportation costs would lower the cost of living for these communities, all of which are minority and low income." (ES 53)
• "Local employment opportunities could offset current trends of outmigration in some communities and provide service fee revenue to maintain or even improve community infrastructure." (4.3-6-4.3-7)
• "In addition, an increased revenue stream to the LPB (Lake &; Peninsula Borough), along with stabilization of population levels attributable to employment opportunities, could result in improvements to community health care facilities throughout the borough." (4.3-8)

The final EIS finds an operating mine at Pebble would make significant contributions to local and state government revenues at a time when Alaska is facing a fiscal crisis related both to the COVID-19 pandemic and a substantial drop in oil and gas investment and commodity prices:

• "An estimated $64 million annually in state corporate taxes during the operations phase. It was estimated that the operations phase could also generate $41 million annually from State mining license taxes. The project could generate $20 million annually (in 2011 dollars) in state royalty payments during the operations phase." (4.3-11)
• "The project would generate $25 million annually in state taxes through construction, and $84 million annually in state taxes and royalty payments during the operations phase. The project would generate $27 million annually in severances taxes for the LPB during operations, and annual property tax revenue to the Kenai Peninsula Borough based on assessed value of project-related real property." (ES 47-48)

Importantly, the final EIS makes clear the Pebble Partnership proposes to employ a tailings storage facility design and operating protocols that preclude the type and scale of catastrophic failure seen in recent years in Brazil and British Columbia:

• "The Applicant's bulk TSF design is different than that of most other historic and current TSFs. The proposed design is especially distinct when compared to most historic mines that have experience large failures." (K4.27-4)
• "Most historic failures have been from dams built by upstream construction methods. The Applicant would construct the bulk TSF embankments by downstream and centerline methods, not the upstream method." (K4.27-3)
• "The Applicant has proposed a design for the bulk TSF that would minimize surface water storage above the tailings and promote unsaturated, or dryer, conditions in the bulk tailings through drainage provisions." (K4.27-4)

Pebble Partnership chief executive officer Tom Collier noted the final EIS for the Pebble project represents the first time an independent, expert regulatory body has comprehensively reviewed a development plan put forward by the project's proponents. He called the document "the most relevant and defensible science-based assessment of the Pebble project ever developed, and the administrative record upon which final permitting decisions will be made."

"I've been involved in countless EIS processes over the course of my career, and can attest to the rigour, the attention to detail and objective care that the USACE and other federal, state and local co-operating agencies have put into this review process," Mr. Collier said. "I have every confidence in the legitimacy and the integrity of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' findings when it comes to Pebble, and that this final EIS document will ultimately prevail against any challenge -- legal or otherwise -- as the most appropriate administrative record upon which final permitting decisions at Pebble should and will be made."

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 Limited Partnership, is a 100-per-cent interest in a contiguous block of 2,402 mineral claims in southwest Alaska, including the Pebble deposit.

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