BRITISH COLUMBIA A preliminary economic assessment study of NOVAGOLD RESOURCE's Galore Creek project suggests that it could be a low-cost copper and gold producer for 20 years. The study was done by HATCH LIMITED of Vancouver. A prefeasibility study is expected in mid-2005 with environmental studies on track for submission in late 2005. A full feasibility study is planned for 2006.
The Galore Creek project is located in northwestern British Columbia in the Stikine Gold Belt. NovaGold has an option to acquire a 100% interest in the project from subsidiaries of Rio Tinto and Anglo American by completing a pre-feasibility study and making payments to the parties totalling US$20.3 million over a period of 8 years. According to the latest study, the Galore Creek open pit could produce 270,000 oz of gold, 1.8 million oz of silver and 200 million lb of copper annually. Average total cash costs are estimated to be US$0.15/lb for copper and US$180/oz for gold.
In May 2004 an updated resource estimate for the Galore Creek project showed that the deposit has an indicated resource of 285.9 million tonnes grading 0.44 g/t Au, 5.7 g/t Ag and 0.73% Cu. The deposit also has an inferred resource of 98.8 million tonnes grading 0.37 g/t Au, 4.8 g/t Ag and 0.54% Cu. Contained gold is about 5.2 million oz.
NovaGold held a conference call on Monday, Aug. 9 to update activity at Galore Creek and announce its second quarter financial statements. Visit the website at www.NovaGold.net.
Comments