VANCOUVER, May 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Northgate Minerals Corporation (TSX: NGX, NYSE Amex: NXG) is pleased to announce that Mr. Mark J. Daniel, Mr. Paul J. Dowd and Mr. Richard J. Hall have been newly elected to its board of directors pursuant to the annual general meeting of shareholders on May 8, 2009. Messrs. Dowd and Hall were previously appointed to the board in December 2008. The election of Mr. Mark Daniel follows the retirement of Mr. C. William (Bill) Daniel, who served on the board since 2003. Serving on the board in addition to the three newly-elected members are Messrs. Terrence A. Lyons, Chairman of the board, Kenneth G. Stowe, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation, Patrick D. Downey, Douglas P. Hayhurst and Conrad A. Pinette. Ken Stowe, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "We have assembled a board that has a wealth of expertise in our industry and is committed to the growth of our company. I am looking forward to working with our newly elected and returning members of our board team to build upon our many recent successes, and to deliver growth and a solid rate of return to Northgate's shareholders. On behalf of our management team and the board of directors, I wish to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Mr. Bill Daniel for his professional contributions and dedicated service to our board over the past six years." Mr. Mark Daniel has been appointed Chairman of Northgate's Corporate Governance and Compensation Committee and also as a member of the Health, Safety and Environment Committee. Over his career, Mr. Daniel worked for the Bank of Canada and a number of other Canadian government organizations prior to joining the Conference Board of Canada in 1979. During his 15-year career with the Conference Board, he benchmarked leadership and management practices in some of the most successful companies in North America, Europe and Japan. Mr. Daniel joined Vale Inco (formerly CVRD Inco) in 1996, retiring as Vice President, Human Resources in 2007. Since that time, he has consulted to organizations on performance improvement, executive development, succession planning and organization design. Mr. Daniel holds a PhD in economics from the University of Minnesota. Forward-Looking Statements: This Northgate press release contains "forward-looking information", as such term is defined in applicable Canadian securities legislation, 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, 2008 or under the heading "Risks and Uncertainties" in Northgate's 2008 Annual Report, both of which are available on the SEDAR website at http://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. DATASOURCE: Northgate Minerals Corporation CONTACT: Ms. Keren R. Yun, Director, Investor Relations, Tel: (416) 363-1701 ext. 233, Email: , Website: http://www.northgateminerals.com/

Copyright