Summary of significant accounting policies

6 Months Ended

May 31, 2014

Summary of significant accounting policies [Text Block]

2       Summary of significant accounting policies

Basis of presentation

These consolidated financial statements have been prepared using accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”) and include the accounts of NovaCopper and its wholly-owned subsidiary, NovaCopper US. All significant intercompany transactions are eliminated on consolidation. These financial statements were approved by the Company’s Audit Committee on behalf of the Board of Directors for issue on July 7, 2014.

All figures are in United States dollars unless otherwise noted.

The unaudited interim consolidated financial statements include all adjustments of a normal recurring nature necessary for the fair presentation of our financial position as of May 31, 2014, our results of operations for the three and six months ended May 31, 2014 and 2013, and our cash flows for the three and six months ended May 31, 2014 and 2013. The results of operations for the three and six months ended May 31, 2014 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the year ending November 30, 2014.

As these interim consolidated financial statements do not contain all of the disclosures required by U.S. GAAP for annual financial statements, these unaudited interim consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the annual financial statements and related notes included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended November 30, 2013 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on January 30, 2014.

Recent accounting pronouncements

i.

Income tax disclosure

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”) issued “Presentation of an Unrecognized Tax Benefit When a Net Operating Loss Carryforward, a Similar Tax Loss, or a Tax Credit Carryforward Exists” (“ASU 2013-11”) which amended Topic 740, Income Taxes to provide guidance on financial statement presentation of an unrecognized tax benefit when a net operating loss carryforward, a similar tax loss, or a tax credit carryforward exists. It was released to provide clear guidance to minimize divergence in practice when disclosing unrecognized tax benefits. ASU 2013-11 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2013. We adopted this standard for the fiscal year ending November 30, 2014. The adoption of ASU 2013-11 did not have any impact as our disclosure meets the recommended practice.

ii.	Offsetting assets and liabilities
	In January 2013, the FASB issued “Clarifying the Scope of Disclosures about Offsetting Assets and Liabilities” (“ASU 2013-01”). ASU 2013-01 clarifies Accounting Standards Update No. 2011-11: “Disclosures about Offsetting Assets and Liabilities” (“ASU 2011-11”) to restrict the scope of implementation to derivatives accounted for under Topic 815, Derivatives and Hedging, which includes bifurcated embedded derivatives repurchase agreements and reverse repurchase agreements, and securities borrowing and lending transactions that require an offset or are subject to an enforceable master netting arrangement. ASU 2013-01 is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning on or after January 1, 2013. We adopted this standard for the fiscal year ending November 30, 2014. The adoption of ASU 2013-01 did not have a material impact on our results of operations, financial condition, or cash flows.
iii.	Development stage entity
	In June 2014, the FASB issued “Development Stage Entities – Elimination of Certain Financial Reporting Requirements, Including an Amendment to Variable Interest Entities Guidance in Topic 810, Consolidation” (“ASU 2014-10”). ASU 2014-10 eliminates the concept of a development stage entity, of which NovaCopper had been classified. As a result of the elimination, certain financial reporting disclosures have been eliminated as well, including the presentation of an inception-to-date statement of income and cash flow. ASU 2014-10 is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2014. Early adoption of this standard is permitted, and we expect to adopt for the fiscal year ending November 30, 2015. The adoption of ASU 2014-10 is expected to have an impact on the disclosure and presentation of our statement of loss and comprehensive loss and the statement of cash flows as it will no longer include the cumulative during exploration stage column currently presented.