Federal and Provincial Environmental Ministers announce final decision on Northgate's...

Federal and Provincial Environmental Ministers announce final decision on
Northgate's Kemess North project
TSX NGX AMEX NXG

VANCOUVER, March 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Northgate Minerals Corporation
(TSX: NGX, AMEX: NXG) confirmed today that the Federal and Provincial
Ministries of Environment have announced their decision to accept the
recommendation report from the Joint Federal/Provincial Review Panel for the
Kemess North project, in which the Panel recommended that the project not be
allowed to proceed in its present form. The Ministers' decision will have no
effect on Northgate's financial performance in 2008 as the company wrote off
the full carrying value of its investment in the Kemess North project in the
third quarter of 2007 after the Panel submitted its recommendation report on
September 17, 2007.
Details of the final decision on the Kemess North project can be found on
the following websites, including the Environmental Ministers' news release
issued on March 7, 2008.
Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency:
www.ceaa-acee.gc.ca/050/viewer_e.cfm?cear_id=3394

BC Environmental Assessment Office:
www.eao.gov.bc.ca/epic/output/html/deploy/epic_project_home_226.html

NORTHGATE MINERALS CORPORATION is a mid-tier gold and copper producer with
mining operations, development projects and exploration properties in Canada
and Australia. The company is forecasting over 400,000 ounces of unhedged gold
production in 2008 and is targeting steady production growth through further
acquisition opportunities in stable mining jurisdictions around the world.
Northgate is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol NGX and on
the American Stock Exchange under the symbol NXG.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS:
This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" and
"forward-looking information" as defined under applicable Canadian and U.S.
securities laws. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the
use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "will," "expect," "intend,"
"estimate," "anticipate," "believe," or "continue" or the negative thereof or
variations thereon or similar terminology. Forward-looking statements are
necessarily based on a number of estimates and assumptions that are inherently
subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and
contingencies. Certain of the statements made herein by Northgate Minerals
Corporation ("Northgate") including those related to future financial and
operating performance and those related to Northgate's future exploration and
development activities, are forward-looking and subject to important risk
factors and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the corporations' ability
to control or predict. Known and unknown factors could cause actual results to
differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Such
factors include, among others: gold price volatility; fluctuations in foreign
exchange rates and interest rates, impact of any hedging activities;
discrepancies between actual and estimated production, between actual and
estimated reserves and resources and between actual and estimated
metallurgical recoveries; costs of production, capital expenditures, costs and
timing of construction and the development of new deposits, and success of
exploration activities and permitting time lines; 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, 2006 or under the
heading "Risks and Uncertainties" in Northgate's 2006 annual report, both of
which are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, and which should be reviewed in
conjunction with this document. Accordingly, readers should not place undue
reliance on forward-looking statements. Neither corporation undertakes any
obligation to update publicly or release any revisions to forward-looking
statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this document
or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except in each case as
required by law.
SOURCE Northgate Minerals Corporation

Ms. Keren R. Yun, Investor Relations, Tel: (416)216-2781, Email:
ngx@northgateminerals.com, Website: www.northgateminerals.com