Kirkland Lake Gold Announces Record April, Fourth Quarter & Full Year Gold Production Numbers for Fiscal 2011

KIRKLAND LAKE, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 05/24/11 -- Kirkland Lake Gold Inc. ('Kirkland Lake Gold' or the 'Company') (TSX: KGI)(AIM: KGI), an operating and exploration gold mining company located in Ontario, Canada, is pleased to announce its fourth quarter and full fiscal year 2011 gold production for the year ended April 30, 2011. The Company's new fiscal year 2012 began May 1, 2011.

April was a record gold production month of 10,175 ounces, with a total of 22,000 tons milled at a rate of 733 tons per day at a head grade of 0.4805 ounces per ton, marking the first time the Company's production rate exceeded 10,000 ounces. Production for the quarter (February, March, and April) totalled 23,466 ounces, bringing total yearly gold production to 81,860 ounces. These are both record production figures for Kirkland Lake Gold. The head grade for Q4 was 0.4434 ounces per ton and for the year was 0.4095 ounces per ton. Mill recovery for the year was 96.42%.

The Company's Chairman, Harry Dobson, commented 'We are very pleased with our production progress and other major accomplishments this fiscal year. In addition to setting new records on the production front, we hired 238 new employees and won the Ontario provincial safety award in calendar year 2010 for the lowest accident frequency for underground mines with more than 250 employees. Our first priority remains to safely and successfully complete our current expansion project.'

Exploration success continued during the year. The highlights were advancing the South Mine Complex, discovered in 2005, to a critical mass of 1.34 million ounces of gold (consisting of 111,000 ounces grading 0.65 ounces of gold per ton (opt) in proven reserves, 647,000 ounces grading 0.75 opt in probable reserves, 2,000 ounces grading 0.36 opt in measured resources and 576,000 ounces grading 0.67 opt in indicated resources). The SMC includes a further 723,000 ounces in the inferred mineral resource category grading 0.79 opt, (as announced in our news release dated April 5, 2011), and remains open in all directions and at depth. In addition, two new drill programs intersected high grade mineralization 2,000 feet west of the known mineralization of the SMC.

A further project update will be forthcoming in early June and our year end financial statements and MD&A will be released on July 7, 2011.

The foregoing reserve and resource estimates have been audited and verified by the Company's independent reserve and resource engineer, Glenn R. Clark, P. Eng., of Glenn R. Clark & Associates Limited. He is a 'qualified person' under National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, of the Canadian Securities Administrators.

About Kirkland Lake Gold Inc.

Kirkland Lake Gold Inc. is an operating and exploration gold mining company located in Ontario, Canada. It purchased the Macassa Mine and the 1,500 ton per day mill along with four former producing gold properties - Kirkland Lake, Teck-Hughes, Lake Shore and Wright Hargreaves - in December 2001. These properties, which have historically produced some 22 million ounces of gold, extend over seven kilometres between the Macassa Mine on the west and Wright Hargreaves on the east and, for the first time, are being developed and explored under one owner. This camp is located in the Southern Abitibi Greenstone Belt of Kirkland Lake, Ontario, Canada. The Company's corporate goal is to expand its gold reserves and reduce its operating costs to become a profitable gold producer.

The Company's common shares trade on the TSX (Toronto Stock Exchange) and on the AIM (Alternative Investment Market) of the London Stock Exchange.

The Company's senior management and Board of Directors have extensive experience in the natural resource and mining sectors that include exploration, mining and marketing, as well as experience in the legal and corporate finance areas.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This Press Release may contain statements which constitute 'forward-looking statements' including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of the Company, its directors, or its officers with respect to the future business activities and operating performance of the Company. The words 'may', 'would', 'could', 'will', 'intend', 'plan', 'anticipate', 'believe', 'estimate', 'expect' and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company, or its management, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future business activities or performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and that the Company's future business activities may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. Such risks, uncertainties and factors are described in the Company's periodic filings with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities, including the Company's Annual Information Form and quarterly and annual Management's Discussion & Analysis, which may be viewed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Although the Company has attempted to identify important risks, uncertainties and factors which could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be others that cause results not be as anticipated, estimated or intended. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements.

Neither the Toronto Stock Exchange nor the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange has reviewed and neither accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Contacts:

Kirkland Lake Gold Inc.

Brian Hinchcliffe

President

1 705 567 5208

1 705 568 6444 (FAX)
bhinchcliffe@klgold.com


Kirkland Lake Gold Inc.

Lindsay Carpenter

Director of Investor Relations

1 416 840 7884

1 705 568 6444 (FAX)
lcarpenter@klgold.com
www.klgold.com


Pelham Bell Pottinger

Philippe Polman

44 (0) 20 7861 3921
ppolman@pelhambellpottinger.co.uk


Ocean Equities Ltd.

Guy Wilkes

44 (0) 207 786 4370
guy.wilkes@oceanequities.co.uk


NOMAD: Panmure Gordon (UK) Ltd

Katherine Roe / Callum Stewart

44 (0) 20 7459 5744
katherine.roe@panmure.com