NORTHERN DYNASTY MINERALS LTD.

Northern Dynasty and Anglo Anglo American through the Pebble Limited Partnership Board of Directors (PLP) has approved a US$59 million budget and work plan for 2009, with the potential for supplemental spending up to a total of US $70 million, to be spent towards completing a Prefeasibility Study and preparing the Pebble Project for permitting in 2010. Pending the outcome of engineering trade-off studies currently underway, the PLP Board is expected to meet in August 2009 to finalize the Prefeasibility Study schedule and authorize additional program expenditures this year. "The primary focus of the Pebble Partnership team in 2009 will be to produce the optimal project design, from an environmental, social and economic perspective," said Northern Dynasty President & CEO Ron Thiessen. "Not only does PLP expect to finalize a Prefeasibility Study, it will also be preparing to enter the state and federal permitting process under NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) in 2010. The Pebble Partnership was established in July 2007 as a 50:50 partnership between a wholly-owned affiliate of Northern Dynasty and a wholly owned subsidiary of Anglo American plc.