Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd (NAK)

[Atinus]

I think the opposition is sincere w/ Trump Jr.'s language that the location is "sacred" and the President describing his son as an environmentalist. There are big interests set out against the mine, and those cross party lines sometimes.

I think what is more telling is Sullivan and to a lesser extent Young up for reelection in November. Alaska GOP wants the mine but a poll in July had Alaskans tilted against the project: https://www.nrdc.org/experts/taryn-kiekow-heimer/62-alaskans-oppose-pebble-mine-new-poll-shows

So, the delay could have more to do with casting doubt on the project prior to the election so that it's not a wedge in the election to potentially hurt Sullivan and Republican officials in the state. If so, then the mitigation letter's 90 day window puts the record of decision off until after the election.

And so the fate of the mine may simply comes down to who wins in November. If Trump wins, the odds of approval go up. If not, it could still be approved during the lame duck and then leave it up to federal courts to decide when Biden tries to pull the plug, or the Army Corps could just reject it in a show of deference to Biden. In theory, an approval even if Trump loses *could* be binding on the Biden administration *if* a federal judge rules that a rejection following an approval violates administrative law and is arbitrary and capricious.

Right now, the issue is political, but post-election it immediately becomes regulatory once again and a potentially thorny legal issue if Biden wins and it gets approved.