VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – A subsidiary of Northern Dynasty Minerals, the proponent of one of the largest undeveloped copper/gold deposits in the world today, and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have filed a joint motion in federal court to extend a stay of proceedings in the parties' long-standing legal dispute to May 11, saying a resolution is possible next week.

The motion states that "The parties have identified a likely framework for settlement and request a short, one-week extension of the current stay to allow the parties the time necessary to finalize the agreement and obtain the required approvals."

"A great deal of common ground has been established between the parties, including on the importance of upholding the rule of law when it comes to administering statutorily mandated processes under the Clean Water Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and other federal statutes. On that basis, we anticipate achieving a resolution to these matters next week,” Pebble Partnership CEO Tom Collier stated Thursday.

Northern Dynasty in November 2014 took the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to court over the EPA’s alleged violation of the Federal Advisory Committee Act in advancing the EPA's Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment study and the subsequent pre-emptive veto process under Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act (CWA) of the company’s flagship Pebble copper/gold project, in south-western Alaska.

Vancouver-based Northern Dynasty has recently appointed regulatory and permitting consultant HDR Alaska to start preparing the necessary documentation to initiate permitting under the CWA and the National Environmental Policy Act by the end of the year, in anticipation of success for Northern Dynasty in its implementation of a multidimensional strategy to address the EPA’s pre-emptive regulatory veto under Section 404(c) of the CWA.

The company’s TSX-listed stock has rallied in recent months, as investors speculate the multibillion-dollar project, which faces strong opposition from indigenous residents and environmentalists, will go ahead under the Trump administration.