NovaGold Appoints Gil Leathley as Senior Advisor to the President
and Reports on Progress at its Projects
January 5, 2010 - Vancouver, British
Columbia - NovaGold Resources Inc. (NYSE-AMEX, TSX: NG) has appointed Mr. Gil Leathley as Senior Advisor to
the President. Mr.Leathley brings a tremendous breadth of mining experience to
this position, and will advise NovaGold on mining, technical and operation
matters related to the Company’s advanced projects.
With more than 50 years of mining
experience, Mr. Leathley has been involved in all aspects of mine construction
and operations as well as evaluation of exploration properties and potential
acquisitions. Mr.Leathley has also assisted with financial oversight and offers
expertise on engagement with investors, analysts and local communities.
Originally from Scotland, Mr. Leathley trained as a Mine Surveyor and
Industrial Engineer with the Scottish National Coal Board, working his way
through coal and bauxite mines and eventually to gold and copper mining in
1975. Mr. Leathley retired in 2000 as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating
Officer of Homestake Mining, and has since worked as a consultant for a number
of well-respected Canadian mining companies.
“Mr. Leathley is one of the best mine
builders in our industry,” said Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse, President & CEO of
NovaGold. “He has an unparalleled record of building and operating mines
around the world, including Golden Giant in Ontario, Eskay Creek in British
Columbia and Ruby Hill in Nevada.Mr. Leathley’s pragmatic advice and
expertise will be invaluable in developing what we believe to be several of the
most significant mining projects of this century.”
Projects Update
NovaGold continues to make progress at all
of its key projects. At its 50%-owned Donlin Creek project in northwest Alaska,
NovaGold and its partner Barrick Gold are assessing optimization scenarios with
the goal of reducing power and processing costs and further improving the project
economics. Donlin Creek contains one of the largest gold deposits in the world
with 29.3 million ounces of gold in proven and probable reserves and a further
6 million ounces of gold in measured and indicated resources. Based on the 2009
feasibility study, during the first five full years of production Donlin Creek
is expected to average 1.6 million ounces of gold annually with an average
total cash cost of US$394/oz, which places Donlin Creek in the lower quartile
for global industry total cash costs.
At its 50%-owned Galore Creek project in
northern British Columbia, NovaGold and Teck are considering a more aggressive
program for 2010 to advance the project toward a construction decision. The
Galore Creek deposit contains 8.9 billion pounds of copper, 7.3 million ounces
of gold and 123 million ounces of silver in measured and indicated resources,
making it one of the largest undeveloped copper-gold deposits in North America.
The Provincial and Federal governments recently announced support to build a
power line along Hwy 37 to Bob Quinn, which is the starting point of the Galore
Creek access road. Given the continued strength of the copper and gold markets,
NovaGold expects to release a new mine plan for the project in early 2010 that
will include updated economics using higher copper and gold prices and an
optimized project design.
At its 100% owned Ambler project in northern
Alaska, NovaGold will continue to work with local communities to support the
construction of necessary project infrastructure in the region, including
discussions with the Alaska Department of Transportation, NANA Corporation, the
Northwest Arctic Borough and the Upper Kobuk River Villages with regard to
building the Northwest Transportation Access Corridor. NovaGold has appointed a
project team to plan exploration activities, advance environmental baseline
studies and conduct engineering and technical studies at the Ambler project
with the goal of gaining a better understanding of the true size and potential
of the district as well as the continuity and mineability of other deposits in
the Ambler mineralized belt. The most advanced deposit on the property is
Arctic, with a measured and indicated resource base of 1.5billion pounds of
copper, 2.2 billion pounds of zinc, 450,000 ounces of gold and 32 million
ounces of silver, and additional inferred resources of 936million pounds of
copper, 1.3 billion pounds of zinc, 260,000 ounces of gold and 19 million
ounces of silver.
At its 100%-owned Rock Creek project in
northwest Alaska, NovaGold has made significant improvements to water
management, plant design and the overall condition of the property. In 2010,
the Company plans to build upon these achievements so that an optimum decision
can be made for the future of this project.
“We hold one of the best pipelines of gold
and base metals mining projects in the Western world,” added Mr. Van
Nieuwenhuyse. “With our share of the world-class Donlin Creek and Galore
Creek projects, plus Ambler and Rock Creek, NovaGold’s resource base totals
24.2 million ounces of measured and indicated gold resources (which includes
15.2 million ounces of proven and probable gold reserves) and 6 billion pounds
of measured and indicated copper resources. This reserve/resource base rivals
that of many mid-tier producers.
“We believe the true potential of these
properties is materially greater than currently identified. Significant
exploration potential remains at all of our projects, which are located in
large mineralized districts containing numerous deposits. One of NovaGold’s
key strengths is its ability to add value through exploration success. Our
exploration team tripled the size of both the Donlin Creek and Galore Creek
deposits through focused exploration campaigns. We will now focus our exploration
efforts at the Ambler copper-zinc-gold-silver deposit with the objective of
bringing value to our investors by advancing another world-class deposit.”
Kevin Francis, P.Geo., Vice President
Technical Services and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument
43-101, has reviewed and accepts responsibility for the technical information
contained within this press release. A complete breakdown of reserve and
resource estimates is attached as an Appendix to this press release and can be
viewed by clicking
on this link. The reserve/resource table and technical reports for each project
are also available at www.novagold.net.
About NovaGold
NovaGold
is a growth-focused precious metals company engaged in the exploration and
development of mineral properties in North America. The Company has a portfolio
of mineral properties located in Alaska, USA, and British Columbia, Canada. The
Company’s largest projects are being advanced with major mining companies. The Donlin Creek project is held by a limited
liability company owned equally by NovaGold and Barrick Gold U.S. Inc. The
Galore Creek project is held by a partnership owned equally by NovaGold and
Teck Resources Limited. NovaGold recently purchased a 100% interest in the
Ambler property in Alaska, and owns a 100% interest in the Rock Creek, Big
Hurrah and Nome Gold deposits near Nome, Alaska. NovaGold has one of the
largest reserve/resource bases of any junior or mid-tier level producing gold
company, and trades on the TSX and NYSE-AMEX under the symbol NG. More
information is available at www.novagold.net or by email at info@novagold.net.
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NovaGold Contacts
Greg Johnson
Vice President, Strategic Development
Rhylin Bailie
Manager, Corporate & Investor Relations
604-669-6227 or 1-866-669-6227
Cautionary Note
Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release
includes certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the
United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements,
other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without
limitation, plans for and intentions with respect to the company’s use of
proceeds from the sale of Securities and NovaGold’s future operating or
financial performance, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance
that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future
events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.
Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from
NovaGold’s expectations include the uncertainties involving the need for
additional financing to explore and develop properties and availability of
financing in the debt and capital markets; uncertainties involved in the
interpretation of drilling results and geological tests and the estimation of
reserves and resources; the need for continued cooperation with Barrick Gold
and Teck Resources in the exploration and development of the Donlin Creek and
Galore Creek properties; uncertainty as to the completion of the purchase of a
100% interest in the Ambler property; the need for cooperation of government
agencies and native groups in the development and operation of properties; the
need to obtain permits and governmental approvals; risks of construction and
mining projects such as accidents, equipment breakdowns, bad weather,
non-compliance with environmental and permit requirements, unanticipated
variation in geological structures, ore grades or recovery rates; unexpected
cost increases; fluctuations in metal prices and currency exchange rates; the
outcome of litigation pending against the company; and other risk and
uncertainties disclosed in NovaGold’s Annual Information Form for the year
ended November 30, 2008, filed with the Canadian securities regulatory
authorities, and NovaGold’s annual report on Form 40-F filed with the United
States Securities and Exchange Commission and in other NovaGold reports and
documents filed with applicable securities regulatory authorities from time to
time. NovaGold’s forward-looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions and
projections on the date the statements are made. NovaGold assumes no obligation
to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or
other factors, should they change.
Cautionary Note
Regarding Reserve and Resource Estimates
This press release has
been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the securities laws in
effect in Canada, which differ from the requirements of U.S. securities laws.
Unless otherwise indicated, all resource and reserve estimates included in this
press release have been prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101
Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”) and the Canadian
Institute of Mining and Metallurgy Classification System. NI 43-101 is a rule
developed by the Canadian Securities Administrators which establishes standards
for all public disclosure an issuer makes of scientific and technical
information concerning mineral projects. Canadian standards, including NI
43-101, differ significantly from the requirements of the United States
Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), and resource and reserve
information contained herein may not be comparable to similar information
disclosed by U.S. companies. In particular, and without limiting the generality
of the foregoing, the term “resource” does not equate to the term
“reserves”. Under U.S. standards, mineralization may not be classified as a
“reserve” unless the determination has been made that the mineralization
could be economically and legally produced or extracted at the time the reserve
determination is made. The SEC’s disclosure standards normally do not permit
the inclusion of information concerning “measured mineral resources”,
“indicated mineral resources” or “inferred mineral resources” or other
descriptions of the amount of mineralization in mineral deposits that do not
constitute “reserves” by U.S. standards in documents filed with the SEC.
U.S. investors should also understand that “inferred mineral resources”
have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence and great uncertainty
as to their 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, estimated “inferred mineral
resources” may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies
except in rare cases. Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any
part of an “inferred mineral resource” exists or is economically or legally
mineable. Disclosure of “contained ounces” in a resource is permitted
disclosure under Canadian regulations; however, the SEC normally only permits
issuers to report mineralization that does not constitute “reserves” by SEC
standards as in-place tonnage and grade without reference to unit measures. The
requirements of NI 43-101 for identification of “reserves” are also not the
same as those of the SEC, and reserves reported by the Company in compliance
with NI 43-101 may not qualify as “reserves” under SEC standards.
Accordingly, information concerning mineral deposits set forth herein may not
be comparable with information made public by companies that report in
accordance with U.S. standards.