Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. ("Northern Dynasty" or the "Company") (TSX: NDM; NYSE Amex: NAK) announces that the Board of Directors of Pebble Mines Corp., the general partner of the Pebble Limited Partnership (the "Pebble Partnership" or "PLP") has approved a budget of approximately US $107 million to advance the Pebble Project in 2012, with the objective of readying PLP to initiate permitting under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) toward the end of the year.