Headline: Noront announces resource increase at Eagle's Nest deposit
Symbol: NOT



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Symbol: NOT:TSX-V
Shares Outstanding: 167,852,109
Fully Diluted: 179,169,260
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TORONTO, March 9 /CNW/ - Noront Resources Ltd. (\"Noront\" or the \"Company\") (TSX Venture: NOT) is pleased to provide an updated mineral resource estimate for the Eagle's Nest deposit, located at its McFaulds Lake Property in the James Bay Lowlands.

The Eagle's Nest deposit has more than tripled previously reported resources, and now contains:



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- Indicated resource of 6.9 million tonnes grading 2.04% Ni, 0.95% Cu,
1.3 gpt Pt and 3.4 gpt Pd;
- Inferred resource of 4.3 million tonnes grading 1.42% Ni, 0.87% Cu,
0.8 gpt Pt and 3.4 gpt Pd;
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At a 3.0% Ni cutoff, blocks included in the resource are:



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- Indicated: 1.3 million tonnes grading 5.31% Ni, 2.16% Cu, 2.8 gpt Pt
and 7.6 gpt Pd;
- Inferred: 0.3 million tonnes grading 4.60% Ni, 1.17% Cu, 0.6 gpt Pt
and 6.3 gpt Pd;
Note: The resource at a 3% cutoff stated above represents a
tabulation of blocks above a 3% nickel grade.
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The updated mineral resource is based on the exploration drilling completed during the 2009 field season, and encompasses the resource estimate for the Eagle One Deposit in the Company's NI 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (\"NI 43-101\") compliant technical report \"Technical report and Preliminary Economic Assessment on the Eagle One Deposit, Double Eagle Property, McFaulds Lake Area, James Bay Lowland, Ontario\" (effective October 20, 2008), which was renamed Eagle's Nest upon discovering extensive mineralization directly below Eagle One.

During 2009, the Company drilled 26,040m at Eagle's Nest. The drilling was triggered by the discovery of additional mineralization beneath the initial resource known, at the time, as Eagle One. The extents of the mineralization were defined down to a depth of greater than 1,200m, more than four times the vertical length of Eagle One, and the Company's management committed to updating the resource estimate. Golder Associates was engaged to complete the resource update based on extensive experience and expertise in estimating nickel-copper-platinum group sulphide deposits.

These resource statements are based on an underground bulk mining assumption that the entire resource lying within the mineralized envelope will be mined, and the crown pillar recovered at the completion of the underground mining.

The extent of the mineralization now extends to a depth of approximately 1,200 metres from surface. The majority of the deposit remains open along strike to a depth of 1,200 metres and remains open down dip below 1,200 metres providing significant potential for further resource growth.

Contained within the resources stated are 'blocks above cutoff' at various grades in the tables below.



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Indicated 'Blocks Above Cutoff'
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CUTOFF TONNES Ni % Cu % Pt gpt Pd gpt Au gpt Ag gpt
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0.5 5,943,512 2.31 1.08 1.45 3.82 0.18 3.08
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1 4,841,619 2.67 1.23 1.64 4.35 0.2 3.47
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2 2,299,495 3.98 1.71 2.28 6.03 0.24 4.5
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3 1,250,402 5.31 2.16 2.8 7.63 0.28 5.45
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4 842,337 6.21 2.52 2.81 8.9 0.33 6.31
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5 600,292 6.91 2.82 2.9 9.94 0.38 6.97
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6 399,372 7.64 3.17 2.92 11.09 0.44 7.79
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7 259,562 8.24 3.36 2.8 11.96 0.5 8.26
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Inferred 'Blocks Above Cutoff'
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CUTOFF TONNES Ni % Cu % Pt gpt Pd gpt Au gpt Ag gpt
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0.5 4,050,123 1.5 0.91 0.83 3.6 0.25 3.54
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1 2,650,781 1.88 1.11 0.9 4.21 0.28 4.24
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2 685,490 3.28 1.25 0.71 5.39 0.21 4.8
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3 280,372 4.6 1.17 0.56 6.33 0.14 4.32
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4 164,931 5.4 1.19 0.52 7.14 0.12 4.43
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5 91,834 6.12 1.22 0.47 7.93 0.1 4.62
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6 44,672 6.81 1.21 0.45 8.81 0.05 4.9
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7 15,870 7.52 1.15 0.42 9.22 0.05 4.69
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Note: blocks at these cutoffs may not be contiguous, and do not
necessarily represent a Resource.
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Noront's President and CEO, Wes Hanson, states: \"We have delivered on our stated objective to triple the resource at Eagle One (Eagle's Nest) and believe this updated resource is adequate to consider mine development. We will be immediately soliciting bids from qualified engineering companies to complete a Preliminary Economic Assessment (\"PEA\") on the McFaulds Lake Project, considering both the Eagle's Nest (Ni, Cu, PGE) deposit and the Blackbird chromite deposit.\" Mr Hanson adds: \"The resource at a 3% nickel cutoff remains suitable for direct shipping, a concept developed in the original PEA. Most importantly, the deposit remains open at depth and along strike, providing significant opportunity for potential resource increases.\"

The updated resource is based on 67 holes (3,998 metres) lying within the mineralized envelope. Drill hole spacing is approximately 30 metres for the Indicated Resource and 70 metres in the areas of Inferred Resource. The limits of the resource envelope were determined by the natural break in the mineralization at 0.3% Ni, and extends approximately 125 metres along strike, 1200 metres down-dip, and 35 metres in thickness. A block model was constructed and grades estimated using Ordinary Kriging methods with composite samples 1.5 metres in length. A strong correlation between Ni and Specific Gravity (95%) was observed, and density-weighting was used in the estimates. Grade variography on the individual elements reported were used to determine optimum search parameters used in the interpolations.

Golder Associates is currently in the process of completing a NI 43-101 compliant Technical Report supporting the estimate disclosed herein which will be filed with SEDAR and made available on the Company's website within 45 days of the date hereof.

The estimate of mineral resources may also be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing or other relevant issues. There is no guarantee that Noront will be successful in obtaining any or all of the requisite consents, permits or approvals, regulatory or otherwise for the project or that the project will be placed into production.

For further information on the Eagle's Nest deposit, please refer to the Company's NI 43-101-Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (\"NI 43-101\") compliant technical report \"Technical report and Preliminary Economic Assessment on the Eagle One Deposit, Double Eagle Property, McFaulds Lake Area, James Bay Lowland, Ontario\" (effective October 20, 2008)


INDEPENDENT QUALITY CONTROL AND ANALYTICAL PROTOCOL


A thorough quality control program has been in effect for the McFaulds Lake Project, which includes grouping samples into batches of 35 into which are added 2, certified reference material standards, 2 field and pulp duplicates also form part of the quality control program. It can be said with confidence that all assays are reported in this Press Release have passed the strict quality control guidelines as set out by Noront's Qualified Person