Alaska's Superior Court ruled in favor of Pebble Ltd. Partnership in the latest case brought by activists who charged the state of Alaska with the unconstitutional permitting of mineral exploration and charged Pebble with causing environmental harm to an area that is home to wildlife and a large Alaskan gold and copper deposit, Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (NAK, NDM.T) said.

The lawsuit was filed in July 2009 on behalf of Nunamta Aulukestai, an organization that opposes the development of the Pebble project.

The Pebble project, which is located in southwestern Alaska, is one of the world's largest undeveloped gold and copper deposits and has faced protest from activists who allege it could harm an important spawning habitat for wild sockeye salmon and harm communities around Bristol Bay that depend on fishing.

The Pebble project is jointly owned in equal measure by U.K.-listed Anglo American PLC (AAL.LN) and Canada-based Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. Rio Tinto PLC (RIO, RIO.LN) owns a 19.16% stake in Northern Dynasty.

Nunamta Aulukestai alleged that the Alaska Department of Natural Resources had violated the state constitution by granting exploration and temporary water use permits to the Pebble Partnership, and that Pebble's exploration activities had caused harm to vegetation, water, fish and wildlife.

The court denied each of the allegations made by Nunamta Aulukestai, and ruled that no evidence of environmental harm was presented, Northern Dynasty said.

"The totally unsupported allegations of Nunamta Aulukestai in this case are illustrative of the rhetoric that anti-Pebble activists have used to alarm local people about the potential effects of the Pebble project, a project that has not yet even entered the permitting process," Ron Thiessen, president and chief executive of Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd., said in a statement.

-By Alex MacDonald, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)20 7842 9328; alex.macdonald@dowjones.com

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