Chairman's Address to Annual General Meeting

Norseman Gold plc / Epic: NGL / Index: AIM & ASX / Sector: Mining & Exploration

2 December 2010

Norseman Gold Plc ('Norseman Gold' or 'the Company')

Chairman's Address to Annual General Meeting

Norseman Gold, the AIM-listed and ASX-listed Australian gold production and exploration company, is pleased to release the following statement which will be read by the Company's Chairman, Mr Vince Pendal, at the Annual General Meeting on 2nd December 2010.

"Chairman's Address

Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of the Board of Directors and management, I am pleased to welcome you to the fourth Annual General Meeting of Norseman Gold.

The 2010 financial year has been one of building and developing. Four years ago when we set out on our goal of building Norseman into an Australian mid-tier gold producer we were fully aware of the size of the task that we had set ourselves. We imposed on ourselves a short time frame and a tight budget as we started a planned programme of refurbishment and repair of the existing facilities, and then began a drilling and development programme on the existing mines at Bullen and Harlequin Declines.

We were driven in our pursuit of the third mine at OK Decline, through its exploration and development phases, up until its production phase that commenced in October and continues to ramp up today. We have vigorously pursued the drilling and development of our fourth mine, North Royal Open Pit, the final piece of the jigsaw in our medium term strategy to the fill the treatment plant.

The path to achieving these objectives has not been easy; it has at times been extremely difficult but when the Company is in a development stage success comes from hard work and from difficulties being overcome. Our production and financial result this year is reflective of those difficulties but it remained nevertheless a very pleasing year when considered from a medium to long term point of view.

The net profit after tax was down to A$3.1 million from the previous year's A$20.4 million. This result was a direct reflection of the decrease in our production profile from 80,753 recovered ounces of gold in 2009 to 60,464 recovered ounces of gold in the current year 2010, as we implemented our development strategy. There was a corresponding increase in our cash costs from $715 per ounce in 2009 to $933 per ounce in this year 2010.

After the end of the financial year, the company was struck by the tragic loss of one of our employees at the OK Decline in August. From the Board of Directors down to our newest employee, we are all committed to provide a safe working environment for everyone and a serious accident such as this has had and continues to have a major impact on many of us. The Company is determined to manage its operations to avoid any such incidents in the future.

Notwithstanding the safety, production and financial performance, the Company has achieved a number of milestones this year that in themselves were rewarding and need to be recognised and acknowledged.

Bullen Decline is currently developing towards O'Brien's reef and has already accessed the initial part of the top of the St Patrick's reef. 

Harlequin Decline focussed on the development of the newly discovered Perch Reef with mechanised stoping production to commence shortly.

OK Decline has continued to drive towards its production objectives, and the extensive refurbishment and development work undertaken during the financial year enabled first stoping to commence in October 2010. The ramping up of this process will continue into the new year. The current drilling in the Star of Erin reef continues to produce very good results; it leaves us in no doubt that OK will steadily expand its reserve base.

Finally, North Royal Open Pit mobilisation has commenced, with the first grade control drill rig currently on site, drilling the initial pattern on the north end of the current pit. We look forward to the first mining commencing in December 2010 and when the mill will receive its first ore in February 2011.

The outcomes of all this progress will be realised towards the middle of the 2011 year when the expected production profile "fills the mill", at which time we will have achieved our medium term objective.

Now, looking forward into the future, we will move to secure our fifth mine as we push to build up reserves and mine life by continuing to open new mines and extend the life of the mines that we have. The exploration effort will continue to prioritise those resources that can turn quickly into production, at the same time as we test new targets with in our portfolio. The continued success of exploration in expanding the resource base will ultimately lead to opportunities to increase the capacity of our treatment plant.

Ultimately, we will achieve our objectives of being a mid-tier gold producer and will go on to build a significant long-term business. However, as with all mines in our industry, there will be highs and lows, operational speed bumps and production fluctuations. We must therefore all remain focussed on the long-term objectives and overall goals, rather than the short-term production profile, as we approach the objective of achieving our medium term strategy. We will fill the mill!

In summary, having travelled the hard road, the hard work is about to have a significant impact and will achieve the medium term outcomes that we have sought, and our thanks go to you as our patient shareholders for travelling the road with us. Thanks to the Board, management and workforce for the sterling effort this year in the face of the real challenges of operating and developing mines at a very fast pace. Now watch this space as the revitalisation of Norseman gathers momentum!

Thank you."

**ENDS**

For further information visit www.norsemangoldplc.com or contact:

Note to editors:

Norseman Gold plc is an AIM listed and ASX listed Australian gold production company, which acquired the Norseman Gold Project in May 2007, Australia's longest continually running gold operation. The Norseman Gold Project is located in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia in the highly prospective Norseman-Wiluna greenstone belt, 725km east of Perth and 186km from Kalgoorlie.

Gold was first found on the Norseman field in 1894 and over the last 65 years it has produced over 5.5 million oz of gold. The mine is currently producing from two high-grade narrow-vein underground mines - the Bullen and the Harlequin. Currently, it has a total resource inventory of 3.8 million oz of gold at an average grade of 5.3 g/t.

The tenements cover a 2,180 sq km area centred on the Norseman Township. The landholding comprises 221 tenements consisting of 16 Exploration Licences, 107 Mining Licences, 64 Prospecting Licences, 15 Miscellaneous Licences, 5 Exploration Licence Applications, 13 Prospecting Licence Applications and 1 Mining Lease Application.

The Company's strategy is focused on extending the mine life through the conversion of resources into reserves and identifying additional resources and obtaining additional ore for the operating mill through the development of a third and subsequent mines. The Company has fifteen advanced resource projects under review of which three have pre-development work being undertaken on them. It is anticipated that at least one if not all the pre-development projects will develop into mining propositions.