Northern Dynasty slams short-seller report as class-suit looms

Canada’s Northern Dynasty Minerals (TSX:NDM) (NYSEMKT:NAK), the company behind a vast, but stalled copper-gold project in Alaska, slammed Friday a short-seller’s report that claims the firm lied about the value of its proposed Pebble mine.

Kerrisdale Capital of New York said Tuesday the project was not commercially viable as it really is a low-grade deposit that would require too much upfront investment to ever generate profits.

The report also alleged that Northern Dynasty has been hiding a negative project assessment conducted by former partners, which proves the miner has made false and misleading statements about the value of Pebble.

But the Vancouver-based company came back in full force Friday, putting under the microscope each and every claim made by Kerrisdale Capital in an attempt to probe the short-seller’s report is riddled with inaccuracies.

Northern Dynasty’s move comes as the company was hit Wednesday with a proposed class action in California federal court over potential federal securities violations. For now, the miner is being the target of an investigation lead by Rosen Law Firm on behalf of the shareholders, Market Exclusive reported.

Since first proposed, Pebble mine has faces never-ending scrutiny from environmentalists, indigenous people and even the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). They have all flagged the potential risks the project would pose to the area’s salmon population, one of the world's most valuable habitats for the fish. But Northern Dynasty and some of its former partners in the venture, including Anglo American, had previously said the project could be built without harming Alaska's salmon fishing industry.

Northern Dynasty’s shares have fallen more than 28% since Tuesday, when the report was released. They closed Thursday at Cdn$2.98 in Toronto, but were up 4.42% Friday in pre-market trading in New York to $2.26.

More to come…

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