Northgate Minerals Releases Updated NI 43-101 Resource Estimate for Kemess Underground Project

Northgate Minerals Corporation (TSX:NGX)(NYSE Amex:NXG) has released its updated NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate for the Kemess Underground Project, located five kilometres north of the Kemess South mine and milling complex in north-central British Columbia.

Highlights

• Indicated Resource of 136.5 million tonnes ("Mt") containing 2.6 million ounces of gold and 860.6 million pounds of copper.
  • This represents an 18% increase in tonnes, a 10% increase in contained gold and a 9% increase in contained copper from the May 2010 resource.
• Identified a 10.3 Mt high-grade sector of the overall resource containing 450,000 ounces of gold and 119 million pounds of copper grading 1.35 grams per tonne ("g/t") gold and 0.52% copper, respectively.
• Northgate has engaged an independent mining consulting firm to complete technical studies, which will be incorporated into a NI 43-101 compliant Preliminary Assessment.

"We are very pleased with the results of the new resource estimate for Kemess Underground, which has exceeded our initial expectations and increased our confidence in this significant resource" commented Ken Stowe, President and Chief Executive Officer. "In addition to increasing the gold and copper content of the resource, the 2011 drill results have identified a continuous, high-grade sector of the resource, which should allow us to enhance the value of the project if it can be scheduled for mining during the early years of production. In the third quarter of 2011, we look forward to the completion of a Preliminary Assessment to outline the economics for mining a large portion of the identified resources."

Qualified Persons

The program design, implementation, quality assurance/quality control and interpretation of the results are under the control of Northgate's geological staff, which includes a number of individuals who are qualified persons as defined under NI 43-101. Carl Edmunds, PGeo, Northgate's Exploration Manager, has reviewed the technical contents of this release.