Freewest Board Recommends Rejection of Noront's "Final" Offer

The Board of Directors of Freewest Resources Canada Inc. (TSX VENTURE:FWR) has
unanimously recommended that Freewest shareholders reject the revised "final"
offer by Noront Resources Ltd. for all of the common shares of Freewest and not
tender their shares to the Noront offer. The Board's recommendation is contained
in a Notice of Change to Directors' Circular filed on SEDAR.


The Notice of Change contains the Board's recommendation and a detailed
discussion of its reasons for recommending that Freewest shareholders reject the
revised "final" offer from Noront. Freewest shareholders are urged to read the
Notice of Change in its entirety.


In making its recommendation, the Board considered many factors, including the
recommendation of a Special Committee comprised of Freewest's independent
directors and advice from CIBC World Markets Inc., Freewest's financial advisor.


"We have entered into an arrangement agreement with Cliffs Natural Resources
Inc. which provides Freewest shareholders, for each Freewest share, with a fixed
amount of $0.90 in Cliffs shares. The Board believes that this guaranteed
consideration from Cliffs is vastly superior to the offer from Noront" said
Mackenzie I. Watson, President, Chief Executive Officer and a director of
Freewest. "We recommend that shareholders vote for the arrangement with Cliffs
and reject the inferior Noront offer."


Under the revised Noront offer, Noront is offering, for each Freewest share,
0.2857 of a Noront common share and 0.1429 of a Noront common share purchase
warrant, exercisable for five years at an exercise price of $4.00.


The Board of Directors unanimously concluded that the consideration provided by
revised Noront offer is inadequate, from a financial point of view, to Freewest
shareholders. The Board of Directors unanimously recommends that Freewest
shareholders REJECT the revised offer from Noront and NOT TENDER their common
shares to the Noront offer.


As announced by Freewest on December 3, 2009, Freewest and Cliffs Natural
Resources Inc. have entered into an amendment to their Arrangement Agreement,
under which Freewest shareholders will receive, for each Freewest share, a fixed
amount of $0.90 in Cliffs shares. The Board of Directors unanimously recommends
that Freewest shareholders APPROVE the Arrangement with Cliffs at a special
meeting of Freewest shareholders to be held on January 15, 2010.


Reasons for the Recommendation

The Freewest Board of Directors believes that the revised Noront offer fails to
provide full value for Freewest's assets and shares and is an attempt by Noront
to acquire Freewest without offering adequate consideration to Freewest
shareholders. The Board of Directors cited a number of reasons for its
recommendation, including that:


- The proposed arrangement with Cliffs will provide a fixed value of $0.90 per
Freewest share.


- The value of the consideration offered under the revised Noront offer is
uncertain and primarily dependent on the value of Noront's shares, which are
subject to significant fluctuations.


- The value of the consideration offered under the revised Noront offer is
dependent in part on the value of the Noront warrants, which is uncertain.


- The implied value of $0.86 per Freewest share of the revised Noront offer is
not substantiated.


- It may be difficult for Freewest shareholders to dispose of Noront shares and
Noront warrants.


- The revised Noront offer is coercive.

- The Board of Directors continues to believe that the Noront offer fails to
adequately compensate Freewest shareholders for the strategic value of
Freewest's assets.


- The Board of Directors continues to believe that the timing of the Noront
offer is opportunistic and disadvantageous to Freewest shareholders.


- Noront does not have a strategy focused on chromite.

Availability of the Notice of Change to Directors' Circular

Shareholders are urged to read the Notice of Change in its entirety. The
document is available free of charge on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on Freewest's
website at www.freewest.com. Copies of the Notice of Change are being mailed to
all Freewest shareholders.


For Investor Questions, Including How to Withdraw Shares from the Noront Offer

Shareholders who have questions or who may have already tendered their shares to
the Noront offer and wish to withdraw them, may do so by contacting Georgeson at
the toll free number set out below.


About Freewest

Freewest is a mineral exploration company actively exploring for gold,
base-metals and chromite within eastern Canada. Corporate information can be
accessed on the Internet at www.freewest.com. Freewest's shares are listed on
Tier 1 of the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol FWR.


Georgeson Inc. is acting as Freewest's solicitation agent in connection with a
proposed Plan of Arrangement with Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. Georgeson may be
contacted as follows:




                                Georgeson
                          100 University Avenue
                         11th Floor, South Tower
                            Toronto, Ontario
                                 M5J 2Y1

                North American Toll Free Number: 1-866-433-7579
                Banks and Brokers Collect Number: 1-212-806-6859



Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking
information" or "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable
securities legislation. This forward-looking information is subject to numerous
risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of Freewest
Resources Canada Inc. ("Freewest"). Actual results or achievements may differ
materially from those expressed in, or implied by, this forward-looking
information. No assurance can be given that any events anticipated by the
forward-looking information will transpire or occur, or if any of them do so,
what benefits that Freewest will derive therefrom. In particular, no assurance
can be given as to whether a proposed plan of arrangement with Cliffs Natural
Resources Inc. will be completed. Forward-looking information is based on the
estimates and opinions of Freewest's management at the time the information is
released and Freewest does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to
revise any of the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable
securities laws.
Freewest Resources Canada Com Npv (TSXV:FWR)
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