10:19 AM EST - NovaGold Resources Inc. : Teck Cominco Ltd. (TSX:TCK.B) are forming a partnership to invest US$2 billion to build NovaGold's Galore Creek copper-gold mine in northwestern British Columbia. NovaGold and Teck Cominco will each hold a 50 per cent stake in the partnership, the companies said Wednesday. Teck Cominco will fund about US$478 million, or C$520 million, in construction costs, with each company responsible for its pro rata share of funding thereafter. In addition, NovaGold will receive up to US$50 million of distributions once Galore Creek is fully operational if the project exceeds minimum revenues in the first year of commercial production. Galore Creek is expected to produce 432 million pounds of copper, 341,000 ounces of gold and four million ounces of silver annually for the first 5 years of production. With over 540 million tonnes of reserves and about one billion tonnes of resources, there remains considerable potential to increase annual production and extend the mine life beyond 20 years, the firms said. NovaGold Resources Inc.
shares NG:CA are trading up one dollar sixty three cents at $16.88.
