NOVAGOLD Reports Excellent Progress in Permitting Donlin Gold With a 2015 Year-End Target Date to File Draft EIS While Maintaining a Robust Financial Position

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA–(March 31, 2015) – NOVAGOLD RESOURCES INC. (TSX:NG)(NYSE MKT:NG) today released its first quarter financial results and updates for its flagship 50%-owned Donlin Gold project in Alaska and its 50%-owned Galore Creek copper-gold-silver project in British Columbia.

Details of the financial results for the three months ended February 28, 2015 are presented in the consolidated financial statements and quarterly report filed on Form 10-Q with the SEC that will be available on the Company’s website at www.novagold.com, on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov. All amounts are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise stated and all resource and reserve estimates are shown on a 100% project basis.

In the first quarter of 2015, NOVAGOLD achieved the following:

• Donlin Gold permitting advanced further with the submission of six cooperating agencies’ comments on the initial draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to the lead agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”), who continue to anticipate publishing the draft EIS by year-end 2015
• Advanced other Donlin Gold major permit applications with state and federal permitting agencies such as air quality, water discharge and usage, pipeline plan of development, wetlands and dam safety
• Continued to sponsor, volunteer and participate in local community activities in Alaska and Northern British Columbia
  • Iditarod Trail International Sled Dog Race, covering more than 1000 miles from Fairbanks to Nome, Alaska, taking place on a National Historic Trail with ties to mining
  • Supporting Tahltan educational and healthy living initiatives
• Released the opening segment of a four-part video series on the way of life in Alaska – Yup’ik Language and Culture – Taking a look into the remote communities based in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region, where the Donlin Gold project is located, and the importance of subsistence living and traditional lifestyles
• Advanced the Galore Creek technical studies in project mine planning and design with its partner Teck Resources Limited, to further improve its value and marketability

President’s Message

I’m very pleased with the progress we have achieved permitting Donlin Gold to date. Considering that we and our partners have been advancing steadily, surely, and without interruption, what is clearly the most important gold development project in the world, unique in its combined quality and magnitude, the process has been exceptionally smooth. This is a testament both to the quality of the asset as well as to the Donlin Gold team’s management of the project over the years as it has been taken up the value chain for the benefit of our stakeholders.

Donlin Gold is indeed remarkable. Over three decades of building and operating some of the greatest mines in the gold space, I have seen and worked on a select few assets that ultimately have grown to the size of Donlin Gold. This is the first time, however, that I am involved with an asset that actually begins with an endowment of 39 million ounces of gold and a nearly three decade mine life … yet also enjoys the very real potential to expand significantly larger still. As a very rare million-ounce-plus-per-year potential gold producer located in a premier jurisdiction, Donlin Gold is on track to deliver great economic benefits to the state, the region, the local communities, and the partners’ shareholders for a long time to come.

The permitting process in the United States is rigorous, and rightly so. It is the very reasonable price we pay for having security of tenure in one of the world’s safest jurisdictions. As managers of a rich piece of real estate with a massive mineral endowment, we are the most supportive advocates for the government agencies that are our counterparts in this process. We know that the more comprehensive and transparent the work that is done on the front end, the better the outcome for all those who are stakeholders in Donlin Gold. We support the thorough and professional approach taken by the Corps in preparation of the EIS, and are encouraged by our joint-progress in providing all agencies and the public with ample time and opportunity to thoroughly review, as well as to provide a meaningful input into, the permitting process.

In the first quarter, the Corps received comments on initial drafts of the environmental consequences sections of the EIS from six cooperating agencies, including EPA, BLM, the State of Alaska and native organizations. This early input into the EIS is very important, as it ensures that the draft EIS meets the expectations and the needs of all of the agencies involved in permitting and reviewing Donlin Gold. The Corps and AECOM Technology Corporation (AECOM), the Corps’ contractor for the preparation of the EIS, are considering the agencies’ comments and will address them in the draft EIS which is expected to be published as planned by the end of 2015. Recently, the Corps determined that, once the draft EIS is published, the public comment period should take approximately five months. Appropriate modifications were made to the original permitting schedule, and the confirmed timeline, published by the Corps, envisages the issuance of the final EIS in early 2017. We welcome this development, as it provides ample time for all the stakeholders to become informed and comment on the EIS, and gives full respect to the cultural practices of the Yukon-Kuskokwim region. Investing this time now will help ensure a prosperous future for Donlin Gold.

This view is shared by both NOVAGOLD and Barrick, both of whom are equally committed to working together to take full advantage of Donlin Gold’s unique scale and optionality. To do that, we are advancing Donlin Gold through permitting and, at the same time, evaluating alternatives to reduce initial owner capital through third-party owner-operator agreements and optimized development scenarios. Prior to making a construction decision, we also expect to bring up-to-date capital and operating costs and other input parameters for the project, since the Feasibility Study was published several years ago. Neither party in the Donlin Gold partnership is interested in building this attractive project without proper regard for the macro-economic environment or the price of gold. To the contrary. Our Chairman, Thomas Kaplan, recently observed that “both companies are happy to take a sober and constructive view. We don’t want to subsidize the world’s consumption of gold by squandering the treasures that Mother Nature has given us and we’re happy to wait for the higher gold prices that will make the project’s economics sing.” Most recently, Barrick revised their own disclosure on Donlin Gold, which bears repeating in its entirety because we and our partners find ourselves so beautifully aligned in our objectives and strategy:

“The 50% owned Donlin Gold project located in Alaska is one of the largest undeveloped gold deposits in the world. In terms of size, grade, and jurisdictional safety, Donlin Gold is an excellent asset in Barrick’s portfolio with significant leverage to the price of gold.

The Donlin Gold project has approximately 39 million ounces of contained gold (100% basis) in the measured and indicated resource categories (approximately 8 million tonnes grading 2.52 g/t (measured) and 533 million tonnes grading 2.24 g/t (indicated)). In addition to its already large mineral endowment, the project also has exploration potential which could expand the current open pit resource.

Under our disciplined capital allocation framework, we have continued to work with our partner, Novagold Resources, to advance the Donlin Gold project. Current activities, by which we maintain and enhance the option value of this project at a modest cost, are focused on permitting, community outreach and workforce development. In 2014, Donlin Gold secured long-term surface use rights and significantly advanced the permitting of the Donlin Gold project which is now about halfway complete.

Barrick is working closely with its partner on alternatives designed to minimize initial capital outlay. The outcome of that effort may include engagement of third party operators and exploring possibilities for third party financing of some capital intensive infrastructure. Collectively, we are also investing about $3 million (100% basis) on technical studies to identify potential design and execution enhancements. Donlin Gold has substantial leverage to gold prices and has the potential to add significant value to Barrick and its future growth pipeline in a higher gold price environment. Any decision to proceed with development, either as currently envisaged, or in an optimized scenario, will depend on the project meeting Barrick’s minimum hurdle rate which will depend in large part on the prevailing gold prices and market conditions.”

Time is on the stakeholders’ side. The recent pause in the secular bull market in gold resulted in some projects in our industry being shelved due to sub-optimal quality and some outright cancelled due to jurisdictional risk. Donlin Gold, on the other hand, continues to retain all its important, fundamentally positive attributes. With the stated 39 million ounces of gold in resources in the measured and indicated category, it is one of the largest undeveloped gold deposits in the world. It has an average grade of 2.2 grams per tonne, among the highest in the industry. It is expected to produce annually over one million ounces of gold for 27 years and likely beyond considering Donlin Gold’s excellent exploration potential. In addition to quantity and quality, it is located in one of the most mining-friendly jurisdictions in the world, the United States, a country where the rule of law is not a novelty, and where one is allowed to keep the fruits of our project’s exceptional leverage to the higher price of gold. These and other attributes of Donlin Gold make NOVAGOLD a truly institutional-quality investment that we expect to be the “go-to stock” in our space.

At Galore Creek, a world-class asset in its own right, we continue to make progress in mine planning and design, waste rock and water management, environmental monitoring, community commitments and site care and maintenance. We anticipate that, when the copper markets turn, this effort will further enhance the value and marketability of this major project.

NOVAGOLD, through its investments in Donlin Gold and Galore Creek, is actively engaged in the lives of the communities where it operates. For example, we were proud sponsors of the 43rd Iditarod Trail International Sled Dog Race, which was recently completed in Nome, Alaska. Some of the mushers are from the Yukon-Kuskokwim region, where Donlin Gold is located. These individuals are excellent role models for the youth in the region. Additionally, in the first quarter of 2015, we released the first segment of a four-part video series featuring the heritage and way of life of people in remote communities in Alaska. The film, entitled Yup’ik Language and Culture, explores the importance of subsistence living and traditional lifestyles in the remote communities in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region, where Donlin Gold is located.

We are thankful for the capital that has been entrusted to us by our shareholders more than three years ago and continue to carefully manage our balance sheet with the shareholders’ interest always uppermost in our minds. We know and appreciate the competitive advantage we have by not needing to raise additional capital for many years if we choose not to do so. With $157 million in cash and term deposits at the end of the first quarter, we have sufficient capital to complete the permitting of the Donlin Gold project, complete the Galore Creek studies and further enhance its value prior to a sale, repay the $16 million in outstanding notes next quarter…and still have plenty of cash to spare if gold prices need more time to resume their uptrend.

We are grateful for the tremendous support of our stakeholders – shareholders, native corporations, and the
government agencies of the jurisdictions in which our assets are located. Additionally, we are very thankful for the guidance from our Board of Directors and for the commitment and perseverance of our employees and project teams in advancing, de-risking and enhancing the value of both the Donlin Gold and Galore Creek projects.

Read More: http://novagold.mwnewsroom.com/press-releases/novagold-reports-excellent-progress-in-permitting-donlin-gold-with-a-2015-year-e-tsx-ng-201503310999682001