Noront Resources continues drilling in Ring of Fire

TORONTO, Apr 28, 2009 (Canada NewsWire via COMTEX News Network) --

<< Provides additional chromium update Symbol: NOT:TSX-V Shares Outstanding: 154,578,457 Fully Diluted: 161,033,457 >>

Noront Resources Ltd. ("Noront" or the "Company") (TSX Venture: NOT) is pleased to announce assay results from 14 diamond drill-holes completed during February and early March 2009 on the Blackbird deposits, and provides an update on project progress.

    <<
                                 HIGHLIGHTS

    -  Noront continues with two drills focussing on chromite over the break-
       up period, exploring the Blackbird deposits
    -  Wide drill core intersections being encountered of massive chromite up
       to 32.2 metres averaging 36.96 % Cr2O3 and resulting Cr:Fe ratio of
       1.96
    -  Resource Drill pattern being adjusted to accommodate recent
       metallurgical test results;
    -  Drilling continues on anomaly testing for new base metal, PGE
       deposits.
    >>

Drilling Details:

Noront's winter exploration program was designed to delineate a chromium resource for the Blackbird deposits and to test airborne geophysical anomalies elsewhere on Noront's extensive properties in the Ring of Fire. The Company has continuously employed two diamond drills on the Blackbird deposits since early January, and will continue to drill through the break up period in the Ring of Fire area of Northern Ontario.

The Blackbird project is located approximately two kilometres south of the Eagle One Magmatic Massive Sulphide deposit and extends in a general SW-NE direction for approximately fourteen kilometres. The last report included holes drilled to the end of March. Since then, an additional 23 holes (1G128 - 1G133, 1G135-1G145, 1G147 - 1G149, 1G151 - 1G153) totaling 5,035 metres have been completed, bringing the total for this year to 17,680.9 metres in 63 holes completed. This drilling has outlined three main areas of mineralization that are undergoing detail drilling, two of which may coalesce to form one. As stated earlier this year the primary goal of this drilling campaign at the 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 chromite). With the information gleaned from the recent preliminary metallurgical program, Noront will be adjusting the drill spacing to focus on the MC (massive chromite), D3 (highly disseminated chromite) and D2 (moderately disseminated) categories of chromite mineralization. Noront is on budget and schedule to complete the necessary drilling by the late summer of 2009.

A third drill focused on base metals (Ni+Cu), PGE's, exploration, that had been exploring Noront's claims fifteen kilometres to the northeast of Eagle One, in the general area of the AT12 nickel, copper, PGE occurrence and beyond, testing geophysical anomalies has recently been shut down for spring break up. This drill has completed the following work since last report; two additional holes (NOT-2G24 and 2G25) totalling 1095 metres were completed (total of four holes 1947.9 metres were completed by this drill in 2009, assays are pending). This drill has recently been halted for maintenance during the breakup period and will resume after breakup on anomaly drilling.

The fourth drill, exploring an area located approximately 12 kilometres to the southwest of the Eagle One and Blackbird areas completed an additional two holes (NOT-09-146 and NOT-09-150) totalling 456 metres bringing the total number of holes drilled into this area to five totalling 1,360 metres. Assays are pending for these five holes. Drilling in this area has been temporarily suspended for the break up period.

A fifth drill working in the northern portion of the Ring of Fire since mid March on the Winisk Project, located to the Northeast of Webequie First Nation, just east of the Winisk River and approximately 75 kilometres to the northwest of the Eagle One deposit, moved from the Winisk area to the Oval Lake area and completed three holes OL-09-01, 02 and 03 totalling 832.6 metres. Samples of core from this program have been selected and have been delivered for assaying.

Assay Results:

Since the last report of assays (April 14, 2009), Noront has received final assay data for thirteen more of its chromite related holes, as well as additional assay data from hole NOT-08-065 drilled much earlier. Hole NOT-08-065 had been selected for metallurgical work as reported on April 27, 2009 and as such the initial assays for this hole were never previously reported. Assays for chromitite intersections in many other holes are pending, final results of which will be released as they become available. The following table provides assay highlights for the massive chromitite intersections only for those holes where assays have been received since the last press release:

    <<
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                Diluted  including
                               interval   massive
    Hole ID    From (m) To (m)    (m)       (m)   Cr2O3%   Cr%    Fe%  Cr:Fe
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    NOT-08-065    190.0  205.0   15.0      7.35   29.80   20.39  13.33  1.53
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
             and  215.0  216.0    1.0      0.36   35.59   24.30  13.90  1.75
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
             and  220.0  221.0    1.0      0.38   22.76   15.60  13.10  1.19
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    NOT-09-1G090   70.5   73.7    3.2      3.04   33.13   22.66  14.98  1.51
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    NOT-09-1G092  107.4  116.8    9.5      7.00   30.68   20.99  12.88  1.63
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
       including  107.4  113.5    6.1      6.05   38.66   26.45  14.44  1.83
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    NOT-08-1G093   54.6   71.0   16.4     16.40   40.28   27.55  13.78  2.00
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    NOT-09-1G095   44.0   54.0   10.0      8.16   33.59   22.99  12.61  1.82
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
             and   61.3   62.6    1.3      1.00   33.26   22.72  12.44  1.83
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
             and  179.7  210.0   30.3     27.30   38.52   26.34  13.25  1.99
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
       including  179.7  192.5   12.8     12.80   41.26   28.22  12.87  2.19
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
      as well as  195.5  210.0   14.5     14.50   39.45   26.98  14.39  1.87
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    NOT-09-1G097  169.7  175.9    6.3      5.60   39.95   27.33  12.78  2.14
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    NOT-09-1G099   89.5  102.6   13.0      5.64   26.08   17.84  11.40  1.57
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
       including   89.5   94.0    4.5      4.22   42.09   28.79  14.13  2.04
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
             and  137.0  139.5    2.5      2.40   40.39   27.60  14.82  1.86
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Notes: Drill intercepts are not true width intercepts; all measurements
    are in metres.
    >>

The intervals sampled and reported include both chromitite and zones of intercalated beds of chromitite and heavily disseminated chromite hosted by talc-altered dunite and peridotite. For a complete set of assayed intervals please refer to the intersection table available on Noront's website by following the link provided below. The cumulative length of the chromitite beds as measured along the core length in each intersection is listed above in the column after total diluted interval length. Whereas most of the intervals listed contain some dilution due to the intercalated disseminated beds, we draw attention to the grade of the chromitite in the massive sub-intervals in holes NOT-08-1G95, 097 and 099, with Cr(2)O(3) at or above 40% and Cr:Fe above 2:1. We also call attention to the fact that the intervals reported in hole NOT-08-065 are the same ones used as the combined sample of intercalated chromitite and silicate interbeds in the metallurgical study published in Noront's press release of April 27, 2009. The combined sample from this interval was successfully beneficiated by simple gravity separation methods to produce a concentrate grading 51.9% Cr(2)O(3) with a Cr:Fe ratio of 2.19.

Additional assay information pertaining to holes NOT-08-1G090 to NOT-09-1G105 (except holes NOT-09-1G101, 102 and 104) is provided on Noront's website. Please follow the link http://norontresources.com/newsItems...

Please follow the link to Noront's website for locations of the aforementioned holes, as well as those recently drilled but not yet reported. http://norontresources.com/newsItems...

Quality Assurance and Quality Control:

All holes drilled are systematically logged and then sampled. Samples are shipped regularly to Actlabs in Thunder Bay, Ontario for sample preparation and initial analysis (TD-ICP) following strict chain of custody procedures. Final chromium and iron analyses were done by instrumental neutron activation (INAA) at the Actlabs facility in Ancaster, Ontario. Neutron activation is a method in which samples are irradiated by neutrons, causing the analyte elements to become radioactive. Counting the radioactivity of each activated isotope in comparison to the activity of a reference material such as Cr wire allows the determination of element concentrations with no matrix effect. For more information on Actlabs analytical procedures please visit Actlabs website at: http://www.actlabs.com

Under Noront's QA/QC program each batch of 35 samples includes one blank, two internationally certified reference materials (ICRM; henceforth referred to as standards), one quarter-sawn field duplicate, a coarse reject duplicate, and a pulp duplicate. These procedures are conducted in addition to Actlabs' standard practise of further inserting one Cr standard within each reactor bundle of 11 samples. The pass/fail criteria for the new Cr standard and for the standards inserted by Actlabs are the same as for the Cu, Ni, Au, Pd and Pt standards previously reported. In particular, if measured concentrations in standards differ from accepted values by more than two standard deviations of the method as determined by numerous INAA repeats on the standards at Actlabs, the entire batch fails and is re-analysed. The standard deviation for 30 repeat measurements of the ICRM SARM 9 by INAA at Actlabs was 1.2% Cr2O3, giving a coefficient of variation of 2.6% and therefore a nominal precision of 5.2% (taken as twice the standard deviation). Precision of pulp splits within reactor batches as determined by the Thompson-Howarth method is 1.7%; between reactor batches it is 5%, matching very closely the apparent precision of 5.2% from replicate analyses of standards. Duplicates and standards are also monitored over periods of months to detect and correct, if necessary, any drift bias or changes in precision that might appear through time. All QA/QC procedures and checks are carried out by Tracy Armstrong, PGeo, of P&E Mining Consultants Inc, who acts as the Qualified Person for Noront on matters pertaining to assays. Currently reported data were all obtained by INAA.

Additional quality control measures have been recently adopted for Cr and Fe including the blind insertion of a certified reference material SARM 8, purchased from Mintek in South Africa, and a change from INAA to fusion X-ray fluorescence (XRF) to analyse chromite samples. For fusion XRF assays the samples are melted with borate fluxes and quenched to a glass bead, which is then irradiated with X-rays. The secondary X-ray emissions are counted and used, with reference to several calibrants, to determine the whole rock composition including the analytes and all other major oxide components of the rock. The additional compositional data would be of interest to buyers of any potential ore from the Blackbird deposits. The results of these new assays are still pending.

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

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