Novagold could produce copper at Murray Brook

A diamond drilling program is currently under way and a total of 10 holes have been completed to date in a 15-hole program. Assays are expected shortly and the program should reach final completion later this month, the company says.

The objective of the work is to better define the configuration of the copper zone and firm up a reserve estimate for a feasibility study.

The copper-rich massive sulphide zone is immediately below a precious-metal bearing gossan at Murray Brook, which is now being prepared for production using open pit methods.

According to President Gerald McConnell, a reserve of 329,000 tons at 4.68% copper was indicated by an in-house study.

In addition to the copper deposit, previous owners of the property also reported 3.0 million tons of reserves grading 4.9% zinc, 1.6% lead, and 1.6 oz silver per ton, located under and down plunge from the copper zone.

McConnell said a number of possible mining plans are being considered for the copper zone including accelerating the stripping of the gold bearing gossan zone and stockpiling the ore. Increasing the mining rate of the gossan would allow quicker access to the copper sulphides beneath, and allow the company to take advantage of current high copper prices.

“This scenario would involve not targeting our mining rate to meet our milling capacity,” McConnell said. “With two mills in the area, we could custom mill our copper concentrate without much difficulty.”

Heath Steele Mines has a mill located 30 miles from Murray Brook, and it could be considered as a possible custom milling facility for Novagold’s ore, he added.

The company has a 5-year mining plan in mind for removal of the gold bearing gossan deposit and has received approval in principle for the project from the provincial government. With copper prices remaining at relatively high levels — about $1.40(US) per pound — the feasibility of mining the copper zone beneath the gossan will be seriously considered.

Shares of Novagold have traded at 71 cents recently on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The company has retired much of its debt and is aggressively pursuing production a Murray Brook.

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