Northern Dynasty Minerals sold off sharply after the DOJ filed an opposition brief defending the EPA’s January 2023 final determination that blocks mine waste discharges tied to the proposed Pebble project in Alaska’s Bristol Bay watershed.
The filing is a 143-page defense of EPA’s action, with DOJ arguing the agency correctly found the project’s discharges would cause “unacceptable adverse effects” on salmon fishery areas, keeping the veto framework intact during summary-judgment briefing.
Markets treated the DOJ stance as a probability shock to any near-term pathway for Pebble, with shares down as much as 45% in Wednesday trading, a five-month low, at around $1.52 and a market capitalization of roughly $1.0 billion by midday pricing context.
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The asset scale at issue remains the entire bull case: a 2023 economic study cited in the coverage projected 20-year output of 6.4 billion copper pounds, 7.4 million gold ounces, 37.0 million silver ounces, 200,000 kgs of rhenium, and 300 million molybdenum pounds.
“This precedent will be used by future Democratic administrations to reverse all of the progress this administration has made with its pro-energy, pro-mining, pro-development agenda,” said CEO Ron Thiessen, calling the move “surprising.”
Northern Dynasty acquired the claims in 2001. EPA began formal scientific assessment work in 2010 and moved toward restrictions in 2014. The first Trump administration withdrew that trajectory in a process finalized in 2019 but the pendulum swung again with a revived veto path in 2021–2022 before the EPA’s final determination landed January 30, 2023, restricting and prohibiting disposal-site use across key waters in the South Fork Koktuli and North Fork Koktuli systems and related areas.
After the 2023 veto, Alaska sought Supreme Court review in 2023 and was denied in January 2024, while Northern Dynasty sued in March 2024 and Alaska followed in April 2024, placing the dispute in US District Court for Alaska under parallel tracks.
Procedurally, the cases were consolidated on November 12, 2024, plaintiffs filed summary judgment briefs on October 3, 2025, with February 17, 2026 as DOJ’s deadline and final plaintiff briefs due April 15, 2026.
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