Notice of Proposed Settlement of NovaGold Resources Inc. Securities Class Actions

NEW YORK, May 24 /PRNewswire/ -- The following statement is being issued by Labaton Sucharow LLP; Sutts, Strosberg LLP; and Camp Fiorante Matthews regarding the NovaGold Resources, Inc. Securities Class Actions.

YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED, by the Orders of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (the "U.S. Court"), the Supreme Court of British Columbia (the "British Columbia Court") and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (the "Ontario Court") (collectively, the "Courts") that the above-captioned actions have been certified as class actions for settlement purposes only and that a settlement for C$28 million (approximately US$26,600,000) has been proposed by the parties.  Settlement Hearings will be held before the U.S. Court, the British Columbia Court and the Ontario Court.  The U.S. Settlement Hearing will be held at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse, Courtroom 11B, of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, 500 Pearl Street, New York, NY 10007-1312, at 2:00 p.m., on September 10, 2010.  The British Columbia Settlement Hearing will be held at the Supreme Court of British Columbia at 10:00 a.m., on August 6, 2010.  The Ontario Settlement Hearing will be held at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice at 1:00 p.m., on August 4, 2010. Each hearing will determine: whether the proposed settlement should be approved as fair, reasonable, and adequate; whether the Class should be certified and a class representative and class counsel be appointed; whether the request of Counsel for the U.S. Class in the U.S. Action should be approved for an award not to exceed C$5,975,000 (approximately US$5,700,000), or approximately 21.3% of the Gross Settlement Fund, plus interest, and reimbursement of litigation expenses incurred in connection with the prosecution of the U.S. Action in an amount not to exceed C$275,000 (approximately US$261,700), plus interest;  whether the request of Counsel for the British Columbia Class and Counsel for the Ontario Class in the Canadian Actions should be approved for an award of attorneys' fees, not to exceed C$1,025,000 (approximately US$975,400), or approximately 3.7% of the Gross Settlement Fund, plus interest and applicable taxes, and reimbursement of litigation disbursements incurred in connection with the prosecution of the Canadian Actions in an amount not to exceed C$45,000 (approximately US$43,000), plus interest; and whether the U.S. Lead Plaintiff's request to the U.S. Court to reimburse it for costs and expenses it incurred in representing the U.S. Class should be approved in an amount not to exceed C$1050.90 (US$1,000).  The Courts may change the dates of the hearings without providing another notice.  

IF YOU ARE A MEMBER OF THE CLASSES DESCRIBED ABOVE, YOUR RIGHTS MAY BE AFFECTED AND YOU MAY BE ENTITLED TO SHARE IN THE NET SETTLEMENT FUND.  If you have not yet received the full printed Notice of Class Actions and Proposed Settlement and a Proof of Claim and Release form ("Proof of Claim"), you may obtain copies of these documents by contacting the Claims Administrator:

Inquiries, other than requests for information about the status of a claim, may be made to U.S. Lead Counsel, British Columbia Class Counsel, or Ontario Class Counsel:

To participate in the proposed settlement and be eligible to receive a recovery, you must submit a Proof of Claim postmarked, or received, on or before September 15, 2010.  If you are a Class Member and do not exclude yourself from the Class that you are a member of, you will be bound by the Judgments entered by the Courts.  To exclude yourself from your Class, you must submit a request for exclusion postmarked, or received, on or before July 14, 2010.  (If you are a member of more than one Class, your exclusion request will automatically exclude you from each Class that you are a member of.)  Any objections to the Settlement of the U.S. Action must be filed with the U.S. Court and served on U.S. Lead Counsel, on or before July 14, 2010.  Any objections to the settlement of the Canadian Actions must be submitted to the Claims Administrator, on or before July 14, 2010.  If you are a Class Member and do not timely submit an acceptable Proof of Claim, you will not share in the Settlement but you nevertheless will be bound by the applicable Judgments of the Courts.

SOURCE Labaton Sucharow LLP; Sutts, Strosberg LLP; Camp Fiorante Matthews