Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Aug. 31, 2015

Basis of presentation [Policy Text Block]

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 subsidiaries, NovaCopper US, Sunward Resources ULC, Sunward Investments Ltd., and Sunward Resources Limited (“Sunward BVI”). Sunward BVI registered a branch, Sunward Resources Sucursal Colombia, to do business in Colombia. 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 October 7, 2015.

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 August 31, 2015, our results of operations and cash flows for the three and nine months ended August 31, 2015 and 2014. The results of operations for the three and nine months ended August 31, 2015 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the year ending November 30, 2015.

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, 2014 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and Canadian securities regulatory authorities on February 6, 2015.

Recent accounting pronouncements [Policy Text Block]

Recent accounting pronouncements

i.	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. Upon adoption, certain financial reporting disclosures will be eliminated 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. 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 a result of adopting the standard, we will no longer include the cumulative during exploration stage column currently presented on our statement of loss and comprehensive loss and the statement of cash flows. We plan to adopt for our fiscal year ended November 30, 2016.
ii.	Going concern
	In August 2014, the FASB issued “Disclosure of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern” (“ASU 2014-15”). Historically, there has been no guidance in U.S. GAAP about management’s responsibility to evaluate whether there is substantial doubt about an entity’s ability to continue as a going concern. This update provides the guidance to clarify when and how management should be assessing their ability to continue as a going concern. ASU 2014-15 is effective for fiscal years ending after December 15, 2016. Early adoption of this standard is permitted. We have early adopted this standard for the fiscal year ending November 30, 2015. The adoption of ASU 2014-15 does not have an impact on the frequency with which we conduct going concern assessments and does not result in significant changes to our disclosure of going concern as we previously complied with appropriate guidance issued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and guidance under U.S. auditing standards.