TORONTO, ONTARIO February 26, 2009, Noront Resources Ltd. ("Noront" or the "Company") (TSX Venture: NOT) is pleased to present an update on its exploration activities in the McFaulds Lake area of northern Ontario in the James Bay Lowlands.

Drilling and Exploration:

In early January, 2009, Noront employed two diamond drills for the Blackbird Chrome area. The Blackbird chrome project is located approximately two kilometres south of the Eagle One Magmatic Massive Sulphide deposit. The primary goal of this drilling campaign at the chrome project is to define a National Instrument 43 - 101 compliant resource for the Blackbird discoveries by completing sufficient drilling at an optimum drill hole spacing to provide both inferred and indicated resources depending on the density of sampling and the domain type (massive vs. disseminated chrome).

A third drill, deployed in early February, is now focused on Noront’s claims located nine kilometres to the northeast, in the general area of the AT12 nickel, copper, PGE occurrence and beyond, testing geophysical anomalies. To date, Noront has completed 21 holes of diamond drilling totalling approximately 6,000 metres on this phase of drilling in both the Black Bird chromite discovery and AT12 areas.

In addition to its diamond drilling programs, Noront continues with an aggressive geophysical program, and has completed 74 kilometres of ground gravity surveying, along with 1,850 kilometres of airborne gradient gravity surveying. These surveys are required for drill planning purposes to further define structures for both base metals and chrome potential. The airborne crew recently concluded their field work and the results will be used to guide further exploration, mostly in the area to the west of the Blackbird chrome discoveries. The ground gravity is focused in the area to the northeast of the AT 12 discovery and along strike from the Blackbird chromite deposits.

A fourth drill is currently being prepared for the commencement of an exploration program headquartered out of Oval Lake, located on the northern portion of the Ring of Fire. This drill will test targets defined by Noront’s VTEM airborne EM survey and will focus on four new exploration areas, namely Northwest, Winisk, Oval and Northeast properties, all of which are 100% owned by Noront. It is expected that approximately 3,400 metres of drilling will be completed in these areas over the next few months.

Assay Results:

All holes drilled in the current program are being systematically logged and sampled, with samples being shipped regularly to Actlabs in Thunder Bay, Ontario for sample preparation and initial analysis, with final chrome analysis being done at the Actlabs facility in Ancaster, Ontario. Due to the high Cr and Cr2O3 results that Noront is receiving on a regular basis, additional analyses are being completed using alternate labs to confirm and compare analytical methodologies using cross lab verification of chrome results.

Exploration Budgets:

In December 2008, Noront’s Board of Directors approved a $7.925 million exploration budget as presented by Noront’s exploration team. There are seven geologists as well as six geo-technicians currently employed on the project, rotating in and out of the Esker Base camp on a tri-weekly basis, along with a Senior Logistics Manager.

This press release has been reviewed and approved for dissemination by Noront’s senior management including John Harvey, P.Eng. Chief Operating Officer of Noront, Dr. Jim Mungall P.Geo., Noront’s Chief Geologist, and Jim Atkinson, P.Geo. Noront’s Exploration Manager, all being Qualified Persons under Canadian Securities guidelines.

Noront is a tier two junior resource company on the TSX Venture Exchange, trading symbol NOT, with 153,722,283 shares issued to date.

For further information please contact the Investor Relations Department at (416) 238 7226, or visit Noront’s website at: http://www.norontresources.com