Company Report: Northgate Minerals Corporation
Northgate Minerals Corporation: Kemess Mine regains its luster Northgate Minerals Corporation has taken what was once a troubled mine and turned it into a golden opportunity

Northgate Minerals Corporation is a mid-tier gold and copper mining company with a long history of mining operations in North America.

Currently, its premier asset is the Kemess Mine, which is located in the mountains of north-central British Columbia.

The company was founded in 1919 under the name of Kirkland-Hudson Bay Gold Mines. Then in 1958, the company was reorganized leading to a name change to Northgate Exploration.

In February of 2000, Northgate acquired a 95 percent royalty interest in the Kemess Mine, which had been formerly owned by Royal Oak Mines, which had filed for bankruptcy in April of 1999.

According to an April 1999 report in the Puget Sound Business Journal, Royal Oak had been carrying debt of $600 million, a large portion of which was undertaken to build the Kemess Mine, which cost $470 million.

"That mine was supposed to transform Royal Oak into a world mining leader, but a combination of low gold prices and cost overruns made it instead a lead weight around Royal Oak's neck," reads the report.

However, since then gold prices have rebounded strongly, and Northgate

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