NovaGold is pleased to announce the results of a feasibility study completed for its Donlin Creek project. The Donlin Creek project is owned equally by NovaGold and Barrick Gold U.S. Inc. and operated by Donlin Creek LLC, a jointly owned limited liability company. The property is under lease from two Native Alaskan Corporations, Calista Corporation (subsurface rights) and The Kuskokwim Corporation (surface rights). The Donlin Creek mine, once built, is expected to be one of only a handful of gold mines worldwide that is capable of producing over one million ounces of gold annually. All amounts are in US$ unless otherwise stated.

Highlights (100% Project Basis)

- Proven and Probable Reserves estimated at 29.3 million ounces of contained gold

- 21-year life of mine at 53,500 tonnes per day throughput

- First 5 full years of production

-- Average of 1.6 million ounces of annual gold production

-- Total cash costs of $394/oz of gold

-- Average annual after-tax cash flow of $779 million at $900/oz gold

- Average annual gold production: 1.5 million ounces first 12 full years; 1.25 million ounces life of mine

- At current $900/oz gold, pre-tax NCF is $5.9 billion, NPV 5% is $1.5 billion with an IRR of 9.4%

- At $1,000/oz gold, pre-tax NCF is $8.4 billion, NPV 5% is $2.7 billion with an IRR of 12.3%

- 3.6 million ounce increase in P&P Reserve plus M&I Resource over the previous M&I Resource estimate

Donlin Creek Project Feasibility Study Results

NovaGold commissioned AMEC Americas Limited ("AMEC") to provide an independent Qualified Person's Review and Technical Report ("Technical Report") for the Donlin Creek gold project located in Alaska, USA, based on information contained in a feasibility study prepared for Donlin Creek LLC. NovaGold expects the feasibility study to be accepted by the Donlin Creek LLC Board of Directors shortly. The Technical Report will be filed within 45 days on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. This Technical Report is based on Q3 and Q4 2008 costs discounted where applicable to Q4 2008. NovaGold believes that capital costs have reduced since Q4-2008.

Based on the feasibility study, the Donlin Creek mine has been designed as a year-round, open-pit operation with plant start-up anticipated for 2015. With the current 29.3 million ounce gold reserve base, the anticipated life of mine of 21 years with a mill throughput of 53,500 tonnes per day. During the first 5 full years production averages 1.6 million ounces with an average total cash cost of $394/oz. The lowest 25th percentile for current global industry total cash costs is approximately $400/oz. Gold production for the first 12 full years is expected to average nearly 1.5 million ounces annually at an average total cash cost of $444/oz. Life of mine production is estimated at an average of 1.25 million ounces of gold annually, for total recovered gold of 26.2 million ounces. These production levels would make Donlin Creek one of the world's largest gold producing mines.

It is expected that the Donlin Creek ores will be processed by crushing and milling followed by flotation, pressure oxidation and CIL recovery. Total gold recovery is expected to average 89.5%, based on the combined life-of-mine average recovery of 92.6% from flotation and 96.6% from pressure oxidation of the concentrate. The process plant design uses the most current technology for both the process systems and equipment selection. Particular attention was paid to incorporating state-of-the-art technology for safety and environmental protection.

The Donlin Creek mine is expected to draw an average of 127 MW of electrical power sourced from a combination of on-site combined cycle gas turbine generators and wind co-generation. In an effort to optimize energy costs and reduce environmental impact, an average of 7.5% of annual energy requirements is expected to come from 14 wind turbine generators.

Key infrastructure for the mine includes a port on the Kuskokwim River, an access road connecting the port to the mine site, an airstrip, camp accommodations, the mine and plant site area, the tailings facility, and supporting turbine generator and wind power facilities. Cargo and supplies would be shipped on ocean barges to a port on the Kuskokwim River, barged up river and then transported via truck along the 123-kilometer (76 mile) access road to the mine site.

 Donlin Creek Summary Statistics 100% Project Basis(1) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mine Parameters                                     Unit        Life of Mine Total Mined                    tonnes (M)            2,567.7 Ore Milled                     tonnes (M)              383.8 Strip Ratio (waste: ore)      tonne:tonne                5.69 Gold Grade               grams per tonne                2.37 Contained Gold                 ounces (M)               29.3 Average Gold Recovery                  %                89.5 Recovered Gold                 ounces (M)               26.2 Mine Life                          Years                  21 Oil Price                       $/barrel                  75                                                      $/tonne Milled       $/tonne Mined       $/ounce Mining Cost                        13.62                2.08           200 Process Cost                       14.76                2.26           216 G&A                                 1.54                0.24            23 Refining                            0.11                0.02             2                           ------------------------------------------------ Operating Cost                     30.03                4.60         440(2)                           ------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Average Annual Gold Production      Unit First Full 5 years                ounces        1.6     million First Full 10 Years               ounces        1.5     million Life of Mine                      ounces       1.25     million Total Start-Up Capital(3)              $      4,481     million Total Sustaining Capital(3)            $        803     million                                         Unit   $725/oz  $900/oz   $1,000/oz Average Annual Cash Flow(4) First Full 5 years                      $ (M)      521      790         944 First Full 10 years                     $ (M)      415      663         805 Average Total Cash Costs First Full 5 years            $ per ounce Au       394      398         400 First Full 10 years           $ per ounce Au       442      448         451 Life of Mine                  $ per ounce Au       467      473         477 Financial Results Undiscounted Cumulative Net  Cash Flow After-Tax (NCF)(5)           $ (M)    1,103    4,166       5,876 IRR Pre-tax                                %       3.0      9.4        12.3 IRR After-tax                              %       2.3      7.7        10.2 Payback Year                           years        15        7           5 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: NPV equals Net Present Value of Cumulative Cash Flow; IRR equals Internal Rate of Return. NPV and IRR figures are discounted to January 1, 2009. (1) Numbers shown on 100% project basis. NovaGold and Barrick Gold U.S.     Inc. each own 50% of the Donlin Creek project subject to a 5 to 15%     back-in right by Calista Corporation. (2) Rounding of data equals $440 (3) Does not include sunk costs, closure costs or credit for salvage values. (4) Total Revenues minus total operating costs and royalties before     interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. (5) Net of initial and sustaining capital and operating costs. 

Project Economics

Industry wide capital costs saw significant increases over the past two years and peaked in the latter half of 2008, which is when Donlin Creek LLC was estimating costs for the project. The total estimated cost to design and build the Donlin Creek Project is $4,481 million, including an owner-provided mining fleet and self-performed pre-development costs. This represents an approximate 10% increase in the total estimated capital costs over the studies conducted in 2007 using a similar approach to the project with on-site power generation. Sustaining capital requirements total $803 million over the 21-year mine life. All costs are expressed in Q4-2008 US dollars with no allowances for interest during construction, taxes or duties. Recognizing the recent decrease in costs for construction inputs such as steel, concrete, diesel and labor, Donlin Creek LLC is reviewing the capital cost estimates for the project and consequently NovaGold may release updated economics later in 2009.