KEMESS SOUTH MINE

Northgate Minerals reported gold production of 81,098 ounces in the fourth quarter of 2009, bringing full year production to a record 362,743 ounces of gold.

Kemess South mine posted production of 61,314 ounces of gold and 14.4 million pounds of copper in the fourth quarter of 2008, which was considerably lower than the forecast of 74,000 ounces and 18.5 million pounds, respectively. Metal production was adversely impacted by a burst water pipe, which caused serious damage to the mill’s Distributed Control System (DCS), resulting in six days of downtime just before Christmas. This event, combined with a one week delay in accessing some higher grade ore in the western end of the open pit, were responsible for the shortfall in production during the quarter. However, the ounces that did not materialize in the fourth quarter of 2008 will be produced in the first quarter of 2009. Mining operations returned to near normal levels in the western end of the open pit once waste rock was removed from the northwest corner where localized sloughing had occurred earlier in the year. A new radar-based wall monitoring system was installed to ensure safe operation until the western end of the pit is mined out in mid-2009. The mill operated at an average throughput of 45,337 tonnes per day (tpd) during the quarter and would have achieved a more typical 49,000 tpd rate had it not been for the unexpected DCS related outage that occurred just before Christmas. Recoveries in the mill of 69% for gold and 80% for copper were consistent with historic norms for the hypogene ore, which was processed during the quarter. The cash cost of production at Kemess in the fourth quarter was $395 per ounce, which was significantly higher than earlier quarters of 2008 due to the precipitous drop in copper prices from an average of $3.62 per pound in the first three quarters to $1.77 per pound in the fourth quarter.

The Kemess South mine posted gold and copper production of 46,124 ounces and 13.9 million pounds, respectively, in the second quarter of 2008. Gold production was significantly higher than forecast in the second quarter as some of the ore that had been scheduled for milling in the third quarter was milled in June. Gold and copper recoveries were better than forecast and mill throughput exceeded expectations due to high mill availability. In the third quarter of this year, gold production is now forecast to be 34,000 ounces as low grade stockpiled ore is milled and waste stripping continues in the western end of the Kemess open pit to expose high grade ore that will be milled in the fourth quarter. Gold and copper production in the fourth quarter of the year is expected to total 80,000 ounces and 20 million pounds, respectively.