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Exhibit 31.1

CERTIFICATION OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-14(a) OF THE

SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

I, Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse, certify that:

1. I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of
NovaCopper Inc.;

2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any
untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary
to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such
statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this
report;

3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other
financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material
respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the
registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4. The registrants other certifying officer(s) and I are
responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures
(as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control
over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and
15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:

(a) Designed such disclosure
controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be
designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to
the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by
others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this
report is being prepared;

(b) Designed such internal
control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial
reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance
regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of
financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted
accounting principles;

(c) Evaluated the effectiveness
of the registrants disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this
report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and
procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such
evaluation; and

(d) Disclosed in this report any
change in the registrant's internal control over financial reporting that
occurred during the registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's
fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially
affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant's
internal control over financial reporting; and

5. The registrants other certifying officer(s) and I have
disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over
financial reporting, to the registrants auditors and the audit committee of the
registrants board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent
functions):

(a) All significant deficiencies
and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over
financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the
registrants ability to record, process, summarize and report financial
information; and

(b) Any fraud, whether or not
material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant
role in the registrants internal control over financial reporting.

|                     | By: | /s/
      Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse
|-------------------- | --- | -------------------------------
|                     |     | Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse          
|Date: March 12, 2013 |     | Chief Executive Officer        

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