Nevada Exploration Inc. (“NGE”) (TSX-V:NGE) and Northgate Minerals Corp. (“Northgate”) (TSX:NGX, NYSE AMEX:NXG) have signed a non-binding Letter of Intent (“LOI”), whereby Northgate may earn a joint venture interest in NGE’s Awakening Gold Project (“Property”).

Under the terms of the LOI, Northgate will have the option to earn a 51% interest in the Property by funding $4,100,000USD in qualifying expenditures and making $435,000USD in cash payments over 5 years. A cash payment of $87,000USD is due upon the signing of a definitive agreement, and the Year 1 work commitment of $500,000USD is a firm obligation. If Northgate completes the initial 51% earn-in, Northgate may earn an additional 14%, for a total of 65%, by completing a feasibility report. Once NGE and Northgate complete a definitive agreement, the companies will issue a further news release with additional details.

Wade Hodges, President and CEO: “This deal will be an important milestone for NGE. It will allow us to focus on our strength of using groundwater chemistry to identify new, previously undiscovered, gold bearing hydrothermal systems with significant upside potential, and allow Northgate to focus on its strength of property development and production. As we advance our current portfolio of properties and identify new projects, we will be looking to continue to use this model to match our projects with competent partners.”

About the Property

The Property consists of 420 claims (approximately 34km2) and is located 50km NNW of Winnemucca, Nevada, on the NW flank of the Slumbering Hills, in Humboldt County, Nevada. The Property covers the NW part of the historic Awakening mining district and adjoins the north end of the Sleeper Mine. The Sleeper Mine produced 1,660,000 ounces of gold and 2,300,000 ounces of silver from 1986 through 1996, and is currently owned by X-Cal Resources Ltd. X-Cal is actively developing the Sleeper project and has recently reported an updated NI43-101 compliant resource.

NGE’s Property is largely covered by a thin veneer of alluvium, and as a result, most of the Property has seen little historic exploration activity. In 2005, NGE’s regional groundwater chemistry reconnaissance program identified anomalous groundwater chemistry on the Property, specifically high levels of gold and other trace metals in the groundwater north of the Sleeper Mine. Based on the results of a further detailed groundwater chemistry survey, in 2008 and 2009, NGE completed systematic exploration for Sleeper-style mineralization on the Property using detailed gravity geophysics, air magnetic geophysics, and soil geochemistry, and the combined exploration dataset has identified several high priority targets showing responses similar to those reported at the Sleeper Mine.