Nighthawk Eliminates Secured Notes

Nighthawk Gold Corp. ("Nighthawk" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:NHK) is pleased
to announce that it has eliminated the outstanding debt with the lenders who
participated in the Company's January 2012 $7 million offering of secured notes
("Secured Notes"). 


Highlights



--  All amounts owed under the Secured Notes have been settled; 
    
    --  $5.95 million of principal and interest was converted into common
        shares ("Common Shares") at $0.12 per share; and 
        
    --  $2.05 million of principal and interest was paid from treasury; 
        
--  The primary participants in the debt conversion agreements (the
    "Settlement Agreements") were Osisko Mining Corporation ("Osisko"),
    Northfield Capital Corporation ("Northfield") and Dundee Corporation
    ("Dundee"); 
    
--  A strong cash balance of $2.5 million remains in Nighthawk's treasury;
    and 
    
--  An additional $1 million in cash is expected to be released in March
    from a standby letter of credit previously posted in favor of Aboriginal
    Affairs and Northern Development Canada (see Company news release on
    January 26, 2012). 



"Many of the key participants in the original Secured Note offering, which
facilitated the purchase of the Colomac Gold Project last year, have again
demonstrated their willingness to stand behind the Company by participating in
the Debt Conversion Offering. As a result of the continued support of Osisko,
Northfield and Dundee we have been able to clean up the Company's balance sheet
while maintaining a healthy cash balance. We will now be in a strong position to
continue advancing our Indin Lake Gold Project despite this challenging
environment for junior exploration companies." commented David Wiley, CEO.


Nighthawk entered into Settlement Agreements with certain of the holders of the
Secured Notes to convert the principal amounts owed to them under the Secured
Notes and the interest accrued to date into Common Shares in the capital of the
Company at a price of $0.12 per share. Pursuant to the Settlement Agreements, an
aggregate amount of $5.95 million in principal and accrued interest was
converted by the lenders into an aggregate of 49,599,132 Common Shares. In
addition, an aggregate amount of $2.05 million was paid to the other holders of
the Secured Notes, representing the remaining amount of principal and accrued
interest.


The Common Shares issued in conjunction with the Settlement Agreements are
subject to a hold period expiring July 9, 2013 in accordance with the rules and
policies of the TSX Venture Exchange and applicable Canadian securities laws. 


The issuance of the Common Shares remains subject to the final approval of the
TSX Venture Exchange.


Nighthawk Gold Corp.

Nighthawk Gold Corp. (TSX VENTURE:NHK) is a Canadian-based exploration company
focused on acquiring and developing gold mineral properties in the NWT, Canada.
Its land position covers 222,203 acres or 900 square kilometres in the Indin
Lake Gold Camp, located approximately 220 kilometres north of Yellowknife, NWT.


For more information about the Company, please visit www.nighthawkgold.com.

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of
applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information
includes, but is not limited to, information with respect to the use of proceeds
and TSX Venture Exchange acceptance. Generally, forward-looking information can
be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans",
"expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled",
"estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "does not anticipate", or
"believes" or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain
actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", or "will be taken",
"occur", or "be achieved". Forward-looking information is based on the opinions
and estimates of management at the date the information is made, and is based on
a number of assumptions and is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties
and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity,
performance or achievements of Nighthawk to be materially different from those
expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including risks
associated with the exploration, development and mining such as economic factors
as they effect exploration, future commodity prices, changes in foreign exchange
and interest rates, actual results of current exploration activities, government
regulation, political or economic developments, environmental risks, permitting
timelines, capital expenditures, operating or technical difficulties in
connection with development activities, employee relations, the speculative
nature of gold exploration and development, including the risks of diminishing
quantities of grades of reserves, contests over title to properties, and changes
in project parameters as plans continue to be refined as well as those risk
factors discussed in Nighthawk's management discussion and analysis for the year
ended July 31, 2012, available on www.sedar.com. Although Nighthawk has
attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may
be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or
intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be
accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those
anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue
reliance on forward-looking information. Nighthawk does not undertake to update
any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities
laws.


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: 
Nighthawk Gold Corp.
David Wiley
President & CEO
[phone]
[phone] (FAX)
[e-mail]
www.nighthawkgold.com


First Canadian Capital Corp.
Daniel Boase
Investor Relations
[phone] ext 232
[e-mail]