Northern Dynasty Minerals shares plunge after First Quantum walks away

VANCOUVER – Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. shares lost about a third of their value Friday after First Quantum Minerals Ltd. walked away from a proposed deal with the company.

The company’s stock on the Toronto Stock Exchange closed at $0.61 down, $0.29 or 32.22 per cent.

Northern Dynasty says it was unable to reach an agreement on an option and partnership deal with First Quantum.

A framework agreement between the two Vancouver-based mining companies was announced in December, and the deadline for concluding a transaction was extended twice, most recently to May 31.

The deal had contemplated First Quantum acquiring an option to earn a 50 per cent stake in Northern Dynasty’s controversial Pebble copper-and-gold mine project in Alaska.

Northern Dynasty has struggled to advance the project in the Bristol Bay area of Alaska, home to a major salmon fishery that environmentalists and Indigenous people have fought to protect.

It has been looking for a partner since 2013, when a subsidiary of London-based Anglo American PLC announced it was withdrawing from the project.

Companies in this story: (TSX:NDM, TSX:FM)