Brigus Gold Initiates Black Fox Mill Expansion

Brigus Gold Corp. ("Brigus” or the "Company”) (NYSE Amex: BRD) (TSX: BRD) announces that it will proceed with an initial expansion of the Black Fox Mill, which is expected to be completed, and in service, during the first quarter of 2012. This initial expansion will increase processing capacity at the Mill to 2,200 tonnes per day (tpd) through optimization of existing mill equipment and elimination of production losses. The Company has commissioned a Phase 2 mill expansion plan, that if implemented in the future, would increase processing capacity to 3,500 tonnes per day and would include replacement of the existing crushing plant with a semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mill.

Brigus hired Dan Mackie and Associates (DMA) to provide technical and financial analysis of the expansion of the Black Fox Mill. Based on recommendations in this report, Brigus will proceed with the following Phase 1 expansion:

• The leach circuit at the mill will be upgraded by adding two new and larger leach tanks, in a bunded area designed for four tanks. The existing carbon in pulp (CIP), carbon in leach (CIL) tanks and carbon columns would be reconfigured allowing for a total of over 30 hours retention, nearly double the current capacity. The higher retention time allows for a coarser grind to be considered. The addition of two additional tanks will provide sufficient total capacity to accommodate Phase 2 of the mill expansion if the Company proceeds with this in the future.
• An improved secondary mill feed diverter will be installed to de-bottleneck the flows to the two secondary mills and to assist in handling the higher throughput. This new configuration will include a "riffle” or "gold trap” as a temporary step in determining the nature of any potential coarse gold that could be handled in a gravity circuit, to be built later, possibly as part of Phase 2.
• New carbon screens and a carbon fines recovery circuit will be added with the installation of a plate and frame filter and surge tank. This will significantly reduce the carbon fines losses to tails.

Phase 1 of the mill expansion is expected to cost approximately $9 million with a payback of less than one year.

"Phase 1 of the mill expansion is a logical step in the optimization of our Black Fox Mill,” said Richard Allan, Chief Operating Officer of Brigus. "The significant capacity increase and short payback period make this an attractive investment. The Black Fox Complex has tremendous development potential and this positions us well to capitalize on growth opportunities in the future.”

A decision to proceed with the Phase 2 expansion will facilitate rapid development scenarios from new discoveries within the Black Fox Complex. In conjunction with the Phase 1 mill expansion and continuing exploration success from the Black Fox Complex, Brigus has deferred a production decision on its Saskatchewan Goldfields property as it considers various expansion scenarios at the Black Fox Complex and involving an expanded Black Fox Mill.

Chief Operating Officer Richard Allen, P. Eng., reviewed the technical information in this release as the Qualified Person for the Company.

About Brigus

Brigus is a growing gold producer committed to maximizing shareholder value through a strategy of efficient production, targeted exploration and select acquisitions. The Company operates the wholly owned Black Fox Complex in the Timmins gold district of Ontario, Canada. The Black Fox Complex encompasses the Black Fox Mine and Mill, and adjoining Grey Fox-Pike River property, all in the Township of Matheson, Ontario, Canada. Brigus is also advancing its Goldfields Project located near Uranium City, Saskatchewan, Canada, which hosts the Box and Athona gold deposits. In Mexico, Brigus has a letter of intent to sell 75% of its Ixhuatan silver-gold projected located in the state of Chiapas. In the Dominican Republic, Brigus has a letter of intent to sell its remaining interests in three mineral exploration projects.

Cautionary and Forward-Looking Statements

Statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve risk, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. All statements regarding the ability of the Company to achieve targeted gold production at its Black Fox Mine, including underground production, and cash costs, mill expansion results, meet capital construction schedules and costs, and the continuation of a rising gold price are forward-looking statements and estimates that involve various risks and uncertainties. This forward-looking information includes, or may be based upon, estimates, forecasts, and statements as to management's expectations with respect to, among other things, the issue of permits, the size and quality of the company's mineral resources, progress in development of mineral properties, future production and sales volumes, capital and mine production costs, demand and market outlook for metals, future metal prices and treatment and refining charges, and the financial results of the Company.

Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements include environmental risks and other factors disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors” in Brigus Gold’s most recent Annual Information Form and Management Discussion and Analysis filed under the Company’s name at www.sedar.com and annual report on Form 40-F filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov as well as elsewhere in Brigus’ documents filed from time to time with the Toronto Stock Exchange, the NYSE Amex Equities, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory authorities. All forward-looking statements included in this news release are based on information available to the Company on the date hereof. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable securities laws.