What happened
The stock of mining company Northern Dynasty Minerals (NAK 1.60%) has had a turbulent past few months. After shares dropped more than 50% in a single day in November 2020, some resurrected hope for its Alaskan Pebble mine project to survive has shares back above pre-drop levels.
Shares began recovering in January 2021 after support from the Alaskan governor and news of the company's appeal of a negative permitting decision. Shares continue to gain ground today, up 13% as of 11:15 a.m. EST.
So what
Today's boost comes after the company shared some details of its 92-page request for appeal (RFA) of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) permit rejection.
Image source: Getty Images.
The mining company highlighted a portion of the RFA that challenges the notion that the proposed copper, gold, molybdenum, and silver mine would cause "significant degradation" to a local watershed.
Now what
Northern Dynasty's position is that the claim is not consistent with Clean Water Act (CWA) regulations, it is an arbitrary opinion unsupported by the the official environmental impact statement, it lacks precedent in the state of Alaska, and will be harmful to the state's resource development.
The company said it plans to continue detailed updates of its appeal for shareholders in the coming weeks. The USACE has until next week to notify the company whether the appeal document is complete.
Shares are likely to swing sharply depending on the upcoming news. The mine is the company's only project, and will decide the fate of the stock. Investors should be aware of that, and invest only with knowledge of the details and if they feel strongly the appeal will be successful.
