Northgate Minerals Announces a 500,000+ Ounce Indicated Resource at YD West

Zone averages 30 metres thick at 3.72 grams per tonne

VANCOUVER, Sept. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ - Northgate Minerals Corporation (TSX: NGX, NYSE Amex: NXG) is pleased to announce a new, NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate for the YD West zone at Young-Davidson in northern Ontario. YD West is the most recent gold zone discovery located just west of the currently known 2.8 million ounce reserve¹.  The Young-Davidson mine is scheduled to commence production in early 2012.

YD West Resource Highlights

• Indicated Resource of approximately 4.5 million tonnes containing 536,000 ounces of gold at a grade of 3.72 grams per tonne ("g/t").
• Inferred Resource of 508,000 tonnes containing 53,000 ounces of gold at a grade of 3.22 g/t.
• The YD West zone is the thickest resource on the property; a large portion of the zone exceeds 50 metre ("m") true widths, with an average true width of 30 m.
• The mineral resource estimate incorporates nine diamond drill holes totalling over 12,000 m, which were completed from July 2010 to August 2011.
• YD West remains open at depth and to the west, underscoring the exploration upside on the property. Currently, two diamond drills continue to explore in this zone and assay results are pending for two additional holes. Future work will involve aggressive step-out drilling further west to expand on these resources.
• An additional underground exploration drill is testing targets to the east and down dip of currently known reserves.

"This is an outstanding result and achievement by our exploration team and we are extremely pleased with the initial resource estimate reported today" commented Richard Hall, President and Chief Executive Officer of Northgate. "The YD West zone has yielded some of best grade-thickness intervals ever drilled on the property and the initial resource has exceeded our expectations. Due to its thickness and grade, YD West has the potential to be the lowest cost per ounce mining zone on the property and will have a positive impact on the economics of the Young-Davidson mine. As we continue to explore in this zone and commence step-out drilling, the exploration upside is tremendous and we fully expect to announce a significant increase in resources at YD West by the end of the year."

Table 1: 2011 YD West Zone Resource Estimate

Notes to Minerals Resources

1. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.
2. Mineral resources for Young-Davidson have been estimated in accordance with the definitions contained in the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves, Definitions and Guidelines adopted by the CIM Council and National Instrument 43-101.
3. Mineral resources are rounded to 1,000 tonnes, 0.01 g/t gold and 1,000 ounces.
4. Mineral resources were estimated using an average long-term gold price of $750/oz (Cdn$806/oz).  Underground mineralized wireframes constructed based on approximately a 1.70 g/t gold cut-off grade, a 1.3 g/t incremental cut-off grade and a minimum true thickness of three metres.
5. Mineral resources were prepared by Carl Edmunds, Exploration Manager, Northgate, using available assay data with an effective date of September 1, 2011. Mr. Edmunds is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of British Columbia and has 23 years of experience in mineral resource estimation.

Overview of the YD West Zone Drill Program

The purpose of the 2011 diamond drill program on the YD West zone is to explore for new resources located west of a major north-south trending diabase dyke that appeared to have truncated and displaced the main Young-Davidson orebody.  Northgate resolved the fault displacement with Discovery Hole YD10-198, which intersected 3.46 g/t over 79.5 metres ("m"). The 2011 initial resource estimate captures all drilling completed to the end of August 2011 and is based upon a total of nine drill holes, all of which have been released previously.

The resource occurs in an area of complex post-mineral dykes (Figure 2), which necessitated drilling three oblique holes in a north-west direction in order to resolve this complexity and ensure the accuracy of the resource estimation.  Analytical results have been received for one of the three oblique holes while geologic results have been received for two of the three holes, providing tight control on the positions of the dykes in the YD West resource area.

In total, the Young-Davidson property now contains Proven and Probable Reserves of 2.8 million ounces of gold, Indicated Resources of approximately 550,000 ounces and Inferred Resources of over 700,000 ounces (see Annual Report for year ended December 31, 2010 for Young-Davidson Mineral Resources).

Two diamond drills will continue to focus in this area until the end of the year, with obvious expansion possible to the west at similar elevations.  An updated resource for the YD West zone will be released with the Corporation's annual resource/reserve statement in the first quarter of 2012.

On the eastern side of the Young-Davidson property, underground exploration has begun on the down dip area beneath the Upper Boundary Zone (a 100 m wide sector between two prominent dykes inside the oval outline in Figure 1), where it was historically challenging to drill targeted holes from surface.  The underground access that is now available from the bottom of the new ramp provides the opportunity to begin this program and three holes are already complete with assays pending.  An additional eight to ten holes are planned during the balance of the 2011 exploration program.

Figure 1 - Young-Davidson Longitudinal Section

www.northgateminerals.com/Theme/Northgate/files/Figure_1_YD.jpg

Figure 2 - YD West Zone Longitudinal Section

www.northgateminerals.com/Theme/Northgate/files/Figure_2_YD.jpg

Appendix 1 - Drill Collar Co-ordinates

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Quality Control - Analyses and Sample Location
Details of quality assurance/quality control procedures for sample analysis and drill hole survey methodology are reported in detail in the Canadian National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects  ("NI 43-101") compliant Technical Report filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) on August 28, 2009.

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, is responsible for the overall supervision of the program.

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Note to Investors:
The terms "Qualified Person", "Mineral Reserve", "Proven Mineral Reserve", "Probable Mineral Reserve", "Mineral Resource", "Measured Mineral Resource", "Indicated Mineral Resource", and "Inferred Mineral Resource" used in this news release are defined in accordance with NI 43-101.

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Northgate Minerals Corporation is a gold and copper producer with mining operations, development projects and exploration properties in the Americas and Australia.  Northgate currently owns and operates the Fosterville and Stawell gold mines in Victoria Australia, and is building the Young-Davidson gold mine in northern Ontario, which is scheduled to commence production in 2012.

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Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Information:
This Northgate press release contains "forward-looking information", as such term is defined in applicable Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, concerning Northgate's future financial or operating performance and other statements that express management's expectations or estimates of future developments, circumstances or results. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "expects", "believes", "anticipates", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "plans" and variations of such words and phrases, or by statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "will", "could", "would" or "might", "be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking information is based on a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by management based on the business and markets in which Northgate operates, are inherently subject to significant operational, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Northgate cautions that forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Northgate's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such information, including, but not limited to gold and copper price volatility; fluctuations in foreign exchange rates and interest rates; the impact of any hedging activities; discrepancies between actual and estimated production, between actual and estimated reserves and resources or between actual and estimated metallurgical recoveries; costs of production; capital expenditure requirements; the costs and timing of construction and development of new deposits; and the success of exploration and permitting activities. In addition, the factors described or referred to in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in Northgate's Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2010 or under the heading "Risks and Uncertainties" in Northgate's 2010 Annual Report, both of which are available on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com, should be reviewed in conjunction with the information found in this press release. Although Northgate has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there can be other factors that cause results, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate or that management's expectations or estimates of future developments, circumstances or results will materialize. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The forward-looking information in this press release is made as of the date of this press release, and Northgate disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise such information, except as required by applicable law.

Cautionary Note to US Investors Regarding Mineral Reporting Standards:
Northgate prepares its disclosure in accordance with the requirements of securities laws in effect in Canada, which differ from the requirements of US securities laws. Terms relating to mineral resources in this press release are defined in accordance with National Instrument 43-101-Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects under the guidelines set out in the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy, and Petroleum Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves. The Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") permits mining companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only those mineral deposits that a company can economically and legally extract or produce. The Corporation uses certain terms, such as, "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources", "inferred mineral resources" and "probable mineral reserves", that the SEC does not recognize (these terms may be used in this press release and are included in the Corporation's public filings which have been filed with securities commissions or similar authorities in Canada).

¹  See press release dated January 25, 2010.

SOURCE Northgate Minerals Corporation