NORTHERN DYNASTY MINERALS LTD.
800 West Pender Street, Suite 1020
Vancouver, British Columbia
Canada V6C 2V6
 
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Signatures
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
 
By: /s/ Marchand Snyman
Director and Chief Financial Officer
 
Date: November 20, 2008
 
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  Ste. 1020, 800 West Pender Street
Vancouver, BC V6C 2V6
Tel: 604-684-6365
Fax: 604-684-8092
www.northerndynasty.com

PEBBLE DEPOSIT DRILLING RESULTS UPDATE

November 20, 2008, Vancouver, B.C. - Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. ("Northern Dynasty" or the "Company") (TSX: NDM; AMEX: NAK) reports that core drilling activities at the Pebble Limited Partnership's ("PLP", "Pebble Partnership" or the "Partnership") project site in southwest Alaska continue to intersect long intervals of higher grade mineralization, and demonstrate a very high level of continuity within the Pebble deposit.

The focus of the Partnership's 2008 drill program is to upgrade the classification for a large portion of the mineral resource in the Pebble East area and to delineate the deposit's extent and overall geometry in order to facilitate comprehensive mine planning. To early November 2008, PLP crews had completed 123,000 feet of drilling in 27 infill and step-out holes. Results have been received for 18 holes (numbered 8401 through 8416, 8419 and 8421), and assays are pending for seven other holes. Drilling is ongoing with six rigs working on new holes.

"The primary goal of the 2008 drill program is to allow the Partnership to finalize a Prefeasibility Study next year," said Northern Dynasty President & CEO Ron Thiessen. "The results we are releasing today are fully consistent with that goal. Not only do they confirm the consistency and tenor of the Pebble deposit, but also the potential to expand the mineral resource in future."

Thiessen said a revised mineral resource estimate for the Pebble deposit will be complete before year end, and is expected to move a significant proportion of the mineralization in the Pebble East area from an inferred to an indicated category. He added that Northern Dynasty plans to cease reporting on the Pebble West and Pebble East zones separately, and publish a single mineral resource estimate for the overall Pebble Deposit.

A Table of 2008 Pebble Deposit Assay Results is included with this news release and a Drill Hole Location Plan Map is posted on Northern Dynasty's website www.northerndynastyminerals.com/ndm/NewsReleases.asp.

Highlights include:
 
°       Hole 8405 intersected 2,460 feet grading 1.20% copper equivalent (CuEQ¹) (0.78% Cu, 0.25 g/t Au, 0.046% Mo). Included in this intersection is a 386 foot interval grading 1.87% CuEQ (1.40% Cu, 0.16 g/t Au, 0.066% Mo).
°       Hole 8410 intersected 1,525 feet grading 1.21% CuEQ (0.80% Cu, 0.44 g/t Au, and 0.023% Mo). Included in this intersection is a 730 foot interval grading 1.44% CuEQ (0.92% Cu, 0.57 g/t Au, 0.027% Mo).
°       Hole 8412 intersected 1,301 feet grading 1.76% CuEQ (1.11% Cu, 0.69 g/t Au, and 0.038% Mo). Included in this intersection is a 649 foot interval grading 1.96% CuEQ (1.34% Cu, 0.65 g/t Au, 0.036% Mo).
°       Hole 8413 intersected 2,469 feet grading 1.15% CuEQ (0.80% Cu, 0.20 g/t Au, and 0.040% Mo). Included in this intersection is a 1789 foot interval grading 1.32% CuEQ (0.96% Cu, 0.23 g/t Au, 0.036% Mo).
°       Hole 8414 intersected 1,224 feet grading 1.27% CuEQ (0.60% Cu, 0.80 g/t Au, and 0.027% Mo). Included in this intersection is a 796 foot interval grading 1.42% CuEQ (0.59% Cu, 1.06 g/t Au, 0.024% Mo).
°       Hole 8515 intersected 2009 feet grading 1.15% CuEQ (0.64% Cu, 0.54 g/t Au and 0.029% Mo). Included in this intersection is a 1060 feet interval grading 1.52% CuEQ (0.81% Cu, 0.84 g/t Au and 0.028% Mo).

Of particular note, hole 8413 (2,469 feet grading 1.15% CuEQ) demonstrates the strength of the mineralizing system in the central part of Pebble East. Holes 8410, 8412, 8414 and 8415 drilled in the southeast, holes 8408, 8411 and 8419 drilled in the northwest, and hole 8404 drilled in the south, tested for the extent of the deposit. The positive results from these holes confirm the open-ended potential in these areas.

The 2008 drilling program has also contributed significantly to the geological and structural understanding of the Pebble deposit which will assist with the Prefeasibility Study work.

"Pebble continues to distinguish itself as one of the world's great mineral deposits, with the potential to support a modern, long-life mine that delivers substantial benefits to shareholders, local communities and the State of Alaska," Thiessen said. "Based on the positive drill results released today, and ongoing progress made by the project's engineering, environmental and stakeholder relations teams, the Pebble Partnership remains on track to finalize a Prefeasibility Study in the latter half of 2009 and commence project permitting in early 2010."

Mark Rebagliati, P.Eng., a Qualified Person who is supervising the exploration and drilling programs for the Pebble Project on behalf of Northern Dynasty, has reviewed this release.

For further details on Northern Dynasty please visit the Company's website at www.northerndynasty.com or contact Investor Services at (604) 684-6365 or within North America at 1-800-667-2114. Review Canadian public filings at www.sedar.com and US public filings at www.sec.gov.

On behalf of the Board of Directors
Ronald W. Thiessen
President & CEO

Core logging and sampling are completed in PLP's secure facility at Iliamna, Alaska. The NQ-size core is sawn and samples are transported to the ALS Chemex laboratory in Fairbanks for drying, weighing and crushing. Samples are shipped by airfreight to the main ALS Chemex laboratory, North Vancouver, Canada (an ISO 9003 certified laboratory) for final preparation and analysis. Gold is determined by 30 g Fire Assay (FA) fusion with an Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) finish. Copper, molybdenum and 23 other elements are assayed by four acid digestion with an Inductively Coupled Plasma-Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-ES) finish. PLP includes standards, duplicates and blanks in addition to the laboratory's internal quality control work. Duplicate samples are analyzed by Acme Analytical Laboratories of Vancouver, Canada.

No regulatory authority accepts responsibility for the accuracy of this release.
Northern Dynasty is solely and entirely responsible for the contents of this news release. No other party, including any parties which have an interest in the project, are in any way responsible for the contents hereof.

Comments on Forward Looking Information, Estimates and other Cautionary Factors

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, especially those that address estimated resource quantities, grades and contained metals, are forward-looking statements because they are generally made on the basis of estimation and extrapolation from a limited number of drill holes and metallurgical studies. Although diamond drill hole core provides valuable information about the size, shape and geology of an exploration project, there will always remain a significant degree of uncertainty in connection with these valuation factors until a deposit has been extensively drilled on closely spaced centers which has occurred only in specific areas on the Pebble Project. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in its forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements should not be in any way construed as guarantees of the ultimate size, quality or commercial feasibility of the Pebble Project or of the Company's future performance. Subsequent results and developments may differ materially from those postulated in the estimates and forward-looking statements. Other factors that could cause the Company's actual results and performance to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include adverse market prices for metals, the conclusions of detailed feasibility and technical analyses, lower than expected grades and quantities of resources, mining rates and metal recovery rates and the fact that necessary capital may not be available to the Company on terms acceptable to it or at all. The need for compliance with extensive environmental and socio-economic rules and practices and the requirement for the Company to obtain government permitting can cause a delay or even abandonment of a mineral project. The Company is subject to the specific risks inherent in the mining business as well as general economic and business conditions. For more information on the Company, Investors should review the Company's annual Form 20-F filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and its home jurisdiction filings that are available at www.sedar.com.

Information about CuEQ

Copper equivalency or "CuEQ" is a manner of expressing poly-metallic deposits as a grade of the principal mineralization (by value). As used herein, gold and molybdenum values have been expressed as part of the copper grade. CuEQ as calculated herein is based on assumed metal prices of US$1.80/lb for copper, US$800/oz for gold, and US$10.00/lb for molybdenum. Copper equivalent has not been adjusted for metallurgical recoveries. Adjustment factors to account for differences in relative metallurgical recoveries for gold, copper and molybdenum depend upon the completion of definitive metallurgical testing. Significant shifts in the relative values of these metals can significantly change the CuEQ. CuEQ is provided for illustrative purposes only.

Information Concerning Estimates of Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resources

This news release uses the terms "measured resources", "indicated resources" and "inferred resources". Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. advises investors that although these terms are recognized and required by Canadian regulations (under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects), the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission does not recognize them. Investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of the mineral deposits in these categories will ever be converted into reserves. In addition, "inferred resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence, and economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an Inferred Mineral Resource will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Under Canadian rules, estimates of Inferred Mineral Resources may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies, or economic studies except for Preliminary Assessment as defined under 43-101. Investors are cautioned not to assume that part or all of an inferred resource exists, or is economically or legally mineable.

  PEBBLE DEPOSIT - 2008 ASSAY RESULTS