Murray Brook drilling cuts good grades NovaGold confirms

Results from 12 inclined holes at the Murray Brook mine in northern New Brunswick confirm that a significant primary copper zone underlies the lower-grade supergene layer now being mined.

Testing 350-ft. of strike length at 50-ft. intervals, Nova-Gold Resources (TSE) consistently intersected high-grade copper values over an average true width of 35 ft. within a broader, steeply dipping mineralized zone. The zone has been traced along strike for 1,200 ft. and to a depth of 800 ft. Significant true-width intersections include 78 ft. grading 8.12% copper (including 29 ft. grading 13.3% copper) and 1.33 oz. silver per ton in hole CZ-37, and 37 ft. grading 8.67% copper and 0.82 oz. silver in CZ-39. Two of the 12 holes were abandoned due to caving.

NovaGold, which recently loaded 25,000 tons of material from the shallow supergene zone on to its leach pad at Murray Brook, soared to as high as 62 cents from 20 cents on the news. It has since settled in the 45-50 cents range.

The recent program was designed to follow up results of vertical holes drilled by Canex Placer in the 1970s, including 6.4% copper over 65 ft. at a vertical depth of 800 ft.

“They had a couple of high-grade intersections within a broad low-grade zone,” says project geologist Donald Burton. “We were testing a geological concept on a known deposit from the floor of our pit.”

The copper mineralization, mainly chalcopyrite, is associated with the east limb of a plunging synform, or U-shaped fold structure. The west zone is untested with the exception of a few previous vertical holes that returned up to 3.5% copper over 25 ft.

Having stripped and processed the gold-rich but unstable oxide layer at surface, NovaGold was able to drill inclined holes to test the true width without encountering substantial ground problems. The gossan yielded 44,500 oz. gold for the junior.

“We knew there was something down there,” said William Young, vice-president of NovaGold. “But we wanted to mine the gossan for the gold before we drilled.”

Burton believes NovaGold could prove up an underground copper deposit of one million tons or more at Murray Brook. The supergene layer contains an estimated 600,000 tons grading 2.5% copper.

NovaGold is trying to raise another $1.5 million to follow the east limb mineralization down-plunge.

Hole Width Copper Zinc Silver

(ft.) % % (opt)

CZ-35 28 7.05 0.29 1.00

CZ-36 11 5.52 0.42 0.80

CZ-33 25.3 7.60 0.17 0.86

CZ-34 78 4.61 0.11 0.85

CZ-37 78 8.12 0.15 0.89

CZ-38 38.7 8.41 0.18 0.97

CZ-39 37 8.68 0.08 0.82

CZ-43 22 3.07 0.43 0.90

CZ-40 39 5.58 0.14 0.74

CZ-41 40.3 4.43 0.22 0.63