NEWS ROUNDUP — NovaGold starts copper production

Open pit mining is now under way on the copper zone at the Murray Brook mine in New Brunswick, reports owner NovaGold Resources (TSE).

The company will ship its first load of copper concentrate to Falconbridge’s Kidd Creek smelter in northern Ontario later this month. Total production over the next four months is expected to be approximately 6.5 million lb. copper, generating gross revenue of $8.5 million. NovaGold uses a sulphuric acid leach process, assisted by bioleach technology, to extract the copper at Murray Brook. The metal is then precipitated from solution to produce a copper cement grading 80% copper. Reserves in the copper zone at Murray Brook are estimated to be 600,000 tons grading 2.5% copper. A gold-rich gossan that once co-vered the zone yielded 44,500 oz. gold and 316,000 oz. silver over the past three years.