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

Northgate Minerals Corporation 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."