Northgate reports strong quarterly cash flow of $43.7 million - A third large gold-copper porphyry system discovered at Kemess

Business Wire, July 26, 2007

VANCOUVER -- (All figures in US dollars except where noted) - Northgate Minerals Corporation (TSX: NGX) (AMEX: NXG) today reported cash flow from operations of $43,685,000 or $0.17 per diluted common share and net earnings of $8,647,000 or $0.03 per diluted common share for the second quarter of 2007.

                      SECOND QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

    -   Production of 65,999 ounces of gold and 14.8 million pounds
        of copper
    -   Net cash cost of production of $35 per ounce of gold
    -   Exploration drilling on targets identified in a deep
        penetrating induced polarization (IP) survey in 2006 has
        discovered two new zones of mineralization east of the Kemess
        North deposit
        -  Ora Zone: Hole KH-07-04 returned 441 metres (m) of
           0.38 grams per metric tonne (g/t) gold and 0.39% copper
        -  Altus Zone: Holes KH-07-03 and KH-07-05 returned 155 m and
           128 m, respectively , averaging 0.23 g/t gold and
           0.3% copper
    -   The underground exploration ramp at the Young-Davidson
        property progressed by 560 m during the quarter and is now
        25% complete; the No. 3 shaft was dewatered down to the
        180-m level

Ken Stowe, President and CEO, stated, "The discovery of another large mineralized system in the Kemess camp is very exciting. Equally important is the success of the Titan(C) deep penetrating IP survey technique, which has proven itself to be an excellent predictive tool for spotting drill holes on the Kemess property in areas where there is no surface expression of mineralization. Over the next two months, we plan to follow up with further drilling of the Ora and Altus zones while conducting additional IP surveys at both Kemess North and Kemess South. From a financial point of view, the second quarter was also very successful as the Kemess mine generated over $43 million in operating cash flow and our cash balance increased to over $317 million. Looking forward to the second half of the year, we are eagerly awaiting the recommendation report from the Joint Environmental Review Panel on the Kemess North project, which is due in the next few weeks. At Young-Davidson, our pre-feasibility study is progressing very well and we expect to release more detailed information on the technical and economic parameters of the project before the end of the year."

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Northgate recorded net earnings of $8,647,000 or $0.03 per diluted common share in the second quarter of 2007 compared with $50,315,000 or $0.22 per share during the corresponding quarter of 2006. Cash flow from operations during the most recent quarter was $43,685,000 or $0.17 per diluted common share compared with cash flow of $9,377,000 or $0.04 per diluted common share during the same quarter last year. Per share data is based on the weighted average diluted number of shares outstanding of 255,317,140 in the second quarter of 2007 and 226,972,597 in the corresponding period of 2006.

Kemess South Mine Performance

The Kemess mine posted gold and copper production of 65,999 ounces and 14.8 million pounds respectively in the second quarter of 2007. Gold production was on target due to higher than expected gold grades, which offset lower mill throughput. Copper production was below forecast due to lower than expected copper ore grades in supergene ore milled in the second quarter of 2007 and lower mill throughput. As a consequence of these second quarter variances and small modifications to the ore release plan for the second half of 2007, Northgate now expects Kemess South mine's metal production to be 276,000 ounces of gold and 68.5 million pounds of copper during 2007.

During the second quarter of 2007, approximately 10.6 million tonnes of ore and waste were removed from the open pit, which was approximately the same as it was during the corresponding quarter of 2006. Unit mining costs during the most recent quarter were Cdn$1.84 per tonne compared with Cdn$1.45 per tonne in the second quarter of 2006. The unit mining cost in the most recent quarter was higher than it was in the same period last year due primarily to extra drilling expenses related to the north wall pushback and major scheduled maintenance costs on two loading shovels.

Mill availability during the second quarter of 2007 was 89% and throughput averaged 48,742 tonnes per day, compared with 94% availability and throughput of 51,807 tonnes per day in the second quarter of 2006. Mill availability in the second quarter was slightly lower than the annual target of 91% due primarily to the timing of the annual transformer station maintenance by BC Hydro and lower than the record set in the second quarter of 2006 when an unusually small amount of scheduled maintenance was carried out. Average mill throughput in the most recent quarter was 6% lower than it was in the same period last year due to the lower mill availability.

Gold and copper recoveries averaged 64% and 76% respectively in the second quarter of 2007, which were the same recoveries recorded in the second quarter of 2006. Supergene-leachcap ores, which has metallurgical characteristics that generate lower metal recoveries, were milled in both periods. As a result, these recoveries were substantially lower than the average recoveries for the Kemess South ore body of 69% and 83% for gold and copper respectively.