In June 2010, Northgate Minerals and Nevada Exploration Inc, an exploration company focused on gold in Nevada, signed a joint-venture agreement on the Awakening Gold Project. 

The Awakening Gold Project consists of 420 claims (approximately 34 km2 or 13.1 square miles) and is
located 50 km northwest of Winnemucca, Nevada, on the
northwest flank of the Slumbering Hills. The Property covers
the northwest portion of the historic Awakening mining
district and adjoins the north end of the former producing
Sleeper Gold Mine, which produced 1.7 million ounces of
gold and 2.3 million ounces of silver.

The Property is largely covered by a thin veneer of alluvium, and as a result, has seen little historic exploration activity.  In 2005, Nevada Exploration's regional groundwater chemistry reconnaissance program identified anomalous levels of gold and other trace metals in the groundwater north of the Sleeper Mine.  In 2008 and 2009, Nevada Exploration completed detailed gravity geophysics, air magnetic geophysics, and soil geochemistry across the Property.  The combined exploration dataset has identified several high priority targets analogous to the geologic units controlling the mineralization at the Sleeper Gold Mine.

Prior to its first drill program in early 2011, Northgate anticipates that it will carry out an induced polarization survey as well as additional soil and water geochemical sampling to further define drill targets.

Figure 1: Gravity results and fault interpretation showing areas of anomalous water chemistry