Why Northern Dynasty Minerals Stock Just Jumped 17%

What happened

Shares of Northern Dynasty Minerals (NYSEMKT: NAK) were on the move once more in Wednesday trading, closing the day up 16.7%.

So what

The question is: Why? It's been a full weeksince the last time we heard so much as a peep out of Northern Dynasty management, and all the headlines since have consisted of various law firms announcing lawsuits alleging the stock is "not commercially viable," that its "financial statements" are "false and misleading" -- or both.

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Even when it doesn't glitter, some investors still see a golden opportunity in Northern Dynasty Minerals. Image source: Getty Images.

Now what

And the answer? That's hard to say. True, the last news we heard from Northern Dynasty was of the good variety, when on March 8, the miner announced that it has retained the services of a "regulatory and permitting consultant" to help with preparing "necessary documentation" to get its Pebble Project gold mining operation moving forward again.

This announcement, in conjunction with last month's news that the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Science, Space and Technology is urging the EPA "to rescind the federal agency's 2014 regulatory action under Section 404(c) of theClean Water Actto pre-emptively veto Alaska's Pebble Project," suggests there could be further positive news coming down the pike.

So far, no such news has surfaced -- but that doesn't seem to be keeping investors from buying today.

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Rich Smith has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.