Today I want to take a closer look at Northgate Minerals (Amex:NXG), a gold and copper miner operating in Canada and Australia. Northgate exhibits strong momentum both fundamentally and technically.

Fundamentally, Northgate’s first quarter 2009 gold production and net cash cost for the Fosterville and Stawell mines in Victoria, Australia and the Kemess South mine in British Columbia, Canada exceeded guidance. As a result, Northgate delivered $45.2 million in operating cash flow and $0.08 net earnings per share, fully diluted for the quarter.

Ken Stowe, President and CEO, stated:

Strong financial results were achieved from our operations during the first quarter, as we beat the forecast for both gold and copper production, generating excellent cash flow from operations of $45 million. Kemess performed extremely well during the quarter, exceeding our expectations for production and costs. We were equally as pleased with the strong operating results from both Fosterville and Stawell, where we achieved another solid quarter of production and lower cash costs. On the exploration front, drill results over the past six months in the North Magdala target at Stawell and in the Harrier zone at Fosterville have been sufficiently compelling that we are commencing development towards both of these areas while exploration continues. Pre-feasibility work at Young-Davidson is moving along well, with completion expected by the end of June.

Technically, Northgate’s stock chart looks just as strong as its operations.

After forming a rounded base in late 2008, NXG shares found a higher level of support in March and recently broke out to new 2009 highs. NXG shows no sign of stopping and is still far from major resistance. Equally important, the trade triangle signals gave a low-risk entry around 1.40.

DISCLOSURE: Long NXG.