The Bristol Bay Native Corporation Education Foundation announced on Friday that it had completed the sale of all of its shares of Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd stock that it had received as a donation from Rio TInto.

The Foundation realized net proceeds from the sale in the amount of $6.48 million. That money will be deposited into the Education Foundation’s endowment and will be used to support its scholarship program and to develop a cutural heritage program according to a news release put out by the foundation.

The Foundation’s Executive Director Greta Goto said of the sale:

“Monetizing the gift of donated shares has increased the Foundation’s ability to meet its mission of supporting educational and cultural heritage opportunities for BBNC Shareholders. The proceeds will go toward scholarship programs to benefit BBNC Shareholders for generations to come and will also help fund the development of a cultural heritage program.

“In today’s world, occupations that require higher levels of education and training are growing and the costs to attend post-secondary training are increasing. With more and more shareholders applying for scholarship support to achieve their education goals, the Foundation is grateful for the generous and continued support from all its contributors who donate and invest in our scholarship programs.”

Rio Tinto announced in April that it was divesting itself of the 19.1% equity it held in Northern Dynasty and instead of finding a buyer for the stock, chose instead to donate the shares to two non-profit organizations. The stock went to the Alaska Community Foundation and to the BBNC Education Foundation. The donation to BBNC was approximately 9 million shares.

Rio Tinto came under pressure to divest its stock in Northern Dynasty by the overseers of the company’s pension fund.

Bristol Bay Native Corporation’s Education Foundation was created in 1991 to serve their shareholders and descendants.

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