Copper Canyon Adds 2.8 Million Ounces Gold, 37 Million Ounces Silver and 1.1 Billion Pounds Copper to NovaGold's Galore Creek Project

Business Wire, Jan 10, 2005

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- NovaGold Resources Inc. (TSX:NG) (AMEX:NG)

Highlights

- A significant new Inferred Category gold, silver and copper resource has been defined on the Copper Canyon property located 5 kilometers east of the main Central zone deposit at the Galore Creek Project in Northwestern British Columbia.

- This new resource substantially expands the previously reported resources for Galore Creek. The Copper Canyon deposit remains open to expansion in all directions and at depth and further definition and expansion drilling is planned in 2005.

- The independent resource estimate at Copper Canyon is the first of three new target area resource estimates currently in progress for the Galore Creek project. Initial resource estimates for the Junction and West Fork deposits, and an update on the main Central/Southwest deposit are anticipated to be completed during the remainder of the quarter.

2004 Drilling Defines New Gold, Silver and Copper Resource at Copper Canyon

A significant new Inferred Category resource estimate completed by independent engineering firm, Hatch Ltd. of Vancouver, B.C., Canada, shows that the Copper Canyon target at the Galore Creek project in Northwestern British Columbia contains over 2.86 million ounces of gold, 37.9 million ounces of silver and 1.16 billion pounds of copper at a 0.35% copper equivalent cut-off grade (CuEq)(1) (See Table 1 below). Copper Equivalent grades are based both on long-term average metal prices and estimated recoveries based on extensive metallurgical data from the adjacent Galore Creek Central/SW deposit. The estimate utilized a geologic model developed from the previously announced drilling at Copper Canyon during 2004 by NovaGold and historic results which had encountered significant widths of gold, silver and copper mineralization.

Table 1 : COPPER CANYON TARGET - INFERRED RESOURCE
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                                            Million  Million  Million
Cutoff     Size              Grade             lbs.      Ozs      Ozs
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                     Cu    Au    Ag  CuEq
CuEq(%)  M Tonnes    (%) (g/t) (g/t)   (%)       Cu       Au       Ag
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0.35        164.8  0.35  0.54  7.15  0.74     1,160     2.86    37.91
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0.50        116.1  0.41  0.64  8.30  0.87       950     2.39    30.98
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0.70         63.0  0.50  0.86 10.21  1.11       625     1.73    20.68
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1.00         29.2  0.65  1.14 13.03  1.45       381     1.07    12.23
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1.30         15.6  0.83  1.32 15.70  1.72       258     0.66     7.87
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Note: (1) Copper equivalent calculations use metal prices of
US$375/oz for gold, US$5.50/oz for silver and US$0.90/lb for copper.
Copper equivalent calculations (CuEq%) reflect gross metal content
that have been adjusted for metallurgical recoveries based on the
following criteria: Copper Recovery equals (%Cu-0.06)/%Cu with a
minimum of 50% and Maximum of 95%; Gold Recovery equals
(Au g/t - 0.14)/Au g/t with a minimum of 30% and Maximum of 80%; and
Silver Recovery equals 80%.

NovaGold may acquire up to an 80% interest in the Copper Canyon property under an option from Eagle Plains Resources (TSX VENTURE:EPL). The property directly adjoins the main Galore Creek property and NovaGold is exploring Copper Canyon as part of its overall Galore Creek project.

The results from the 2004 drilling at Copper Canyon, combined with the earlier results, have defined a broad area of precious metal rich mineralization at least 700 meters by 400 meters which is open to expansion in all directions and at depth. The mineralization begins at surface continuing to as much as 300 meters depth and occurs as a roughly 100+ meter thick zone of disseminated chalcopyrite and pyrite hosted within an intrusive porphyry complex.

The new resource estimate was based on a three-dimensional geologic and mineralization model that integrates 6,850 meters (22,500 feet) of drilling in 21 core holes with a total of 4,749 assays. Grades for the block model were estimated using ordinary kriging procedures. Mineralization was composited on 6 meter intervals with high-grade samples capped based on lognormal probability plots. Due to the relatively widespread spacing of the drilling at Copper Canyon all resources in this estimate were classified as Inferred.

The drill program and sampling protocol were completed with oversight by qualified person Scott Petsel, Senior Project Geologist for NovaGold. A rigorous quality control and quality assurance protocol was utilized on the project including blank and reference samples with each batch of assays. All NovaGold drill samples were analyzed by fire assay at ALS Chemex Labs in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. Database quality control and quality assurance standards were overseen by Hatch Ltd. The independent resource estimation by Hatch Ltd. was under the direction and oversight of qualified persons Gary Giroux and Robert Morris, Hatch Ltd., Vancouver, B.C., Canada. A detailed 43-101 compliant technical report will be completed on the resource estimate within 30 days.