NovaGold hits hot holes at Murray Brook property

Dartmouth, N.S.-based NovaGold Resources (NRI-T) is encouraged by diamond drill results from its Murray Brook polymetallic property, 37 miles west of Bathurst, N.B.

The recently completed program, which tested for extensions of a high-grade copper zone (previously mined by open-pit methods) returned significant intersections of copper, lead, zinc and silver mineralization in massive sulphides. The drilling extended to depths of between 200 and 425 ft., and the potential strike length is believed to be 1,500 ft.

The deepest copper intersection averaged 3.81% over 50 ft., and the highest-grade intercept was 7.29% copper over 23.3 ft.

Inclined holes drilled into the lead-zinc portion of the deposit hit 67 ft.

grading 8.15% combined lead-zinc with 2.15 oz. silver per ton, as well as a second zone of 5.15% combined lead-zinc with 1.5 oz. silver over 22.5 ft. The deposit is believed to be open at depth.

NovaGold believes these results indicate potential for ore-grade copper and lead-zinc mineralization over minable widths. The holes were the first to be drilled outside of the open-pit area. Previous interpretations, based on wide-spaced vertical holes, had assumed the metal-rich zones were shallow- dipping and discontinuous. However, the latest inclined drill holes indicate that the zones are steeply dipping and continuous. NovaGold had earlier defined the near-verti-

cal attitude of high-grade copper lenses in the immediate area of the open pit.

Although deep drilling by previous owners had assumed a northeasterly plunge to the deposit, recent drilling shows that it is open at depth and plunges to the north-northwest.

Additional drilling will be carried out in an attempt to confirm the attitude of the metal-rich zones and to test the down-plunge extension of the deposit.

An open-pit copper mine was developed at the site in 1992. However, operations were suspended later that year due to severe winter weather, and the subsequent decline in copper prices prevented operations from resuming.

In July 1995, NovaGold reached an agreement with the privately owned Sheridan Platinum Group to advance the project to production.

According to NovaGold’s 1995 annual report, the deposit has an open-pit minable copper reserve estimated at 661,000 tons of primary and secondary mixed copper sulphides grading 2.5% copper. The company reports that underground potential also exists.