Wesdome - Eagle River Mine 811 Zone Extends at Depth

WAWA, ON, Feb. 29, 2012 /CNW/ - Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd. (WDO-TSX) is pleased to report very encouraging preliminary drilling results from its 100% owned Eagle River Mine located 50 kilometres due west of Wawa, Ontario.

A series of four holes on section 9400E has encountered strong mineralization extending 200 metres below current reserves limits.  The deepest hole EU-639 cut 59.67 gAu/tonne over a corelength of 3.15metres at a depth of about 1,000 metres.  Results are summarized in Table 1 and presented on the accompanying longitudinal sections - Figure 1 and 2.

George Mannard, VP Exploration, comments 'The high grade 811 Zone has now been traced from surface to a depth of 1,000 metres where it remains open.  We have been aggressively developing this portion of the mine over the last two years.  Historically, the 811 Zone generated the bulk of our production in the period 2007 - 2009 when Eagle River produced 142,700 ounces of gold from 327,000 tonnes at an average recovered grade of 13.5 gAu/tonne.  If we can pull off a similar production run with today's gold prices, it would certainly be very rewarding.'

Table 1  811 Zone - Significant Intersections

     ___________________________________________________________________
    |Hole #| From |   To |Core length|True Width|   Grade   |Cut Grade *|
    |      | (m)  |  (m) |    (m)    |   (m)    |(gAu/tonne)|(gAu/tonne)|
    |______|______|______|___________|__________|___________|___________|
    |EU-631|198.50|200.35|     1.85  |    1.52  |     8.72  |     8.72  |
    |______|______|______|___________|__________|___________|___________|
    |EU-632|223.50|225.45|     1.95  |    1.49  |     1.17  |     1.17  |
    |______|______|______|___________|__________|___________|___________|
    |EU-633|246.60|251.50|     4.90  |    2.81  |    14.89  |    14.89  |
    |______|______|______|___________|__________|___________|___________|
    |EU-639|306.35|309.50|     3.15  |    1.81  |    59.67  |    44.82  |
    |______|______|______|___________|__________|___________|___________|

* High grade assays are cut to 140 gAu/tonne

Gold mineralization is hosted in subvertically dipping tabular quartz veins in a discrete shear zone cutting the axis of an elongated quartz-diorite stock.  High grades are typically accompanied by accessory amounts of pyrite, sphalerite and galena.  Hole EU-632 displayed a very well-developed quartz vein yet returned weak assays.  Delineation and definition drilling of the 811 Zone continues.

Since the first gold pour in October, 1995, the Eagle River Mine has produced 887,000 ounces of gold from 3,016,000 tonnes at a recovered grade of 9.2 gAu/tonne.  The bulk of this has come from depths of less than 500 metres.

All assays are performed at the Eagle River Mine assay office by fire assay on 25 gram aliquots.  Duplicates, replicates, blanks and standards are routinely inserted into the sample stream to monitor quality control.  George N. Mannard, VP Exploration, is the 'Qualified Person' responsible for the technical content of this press release as required by National Instrument 43-101 'Standards of Disclosure'.

ABOUT WESDOME

Wesdome is celebrating its 25(th) year of continuous mining operations in Canada.  It currently has three producing gold mines with wholly-owned mining and milling complexes located in Wawa, Ontario and Val d'Or, Québec.  The Company has 101.9 million shares issued and outstanding and trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol 'WDO'.

This news release contains 'forward-looking information' which may include, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the future financial or operating performance of the Company and its projects. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as 'plans', 'expects', 'is expected', 'budget', 'scheduled', 'estimates', 'forecasts', 'intends', 'anticipates', or 'believes' or variations (including negative 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 statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this press release and the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances, management's estimates or opinions should change, except as required by securities legislation. Accordingly, the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

SOURCE Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd.

PDF with caption: 'Figure 1'. PDF available at: http://stream1.newswire.ca/media/2012/02/29/20120229_C8313_DOC_EN_10586.pdf

PDF with caption: 'Figure 2'. PDF available at: http://stream1.newswire.ca/media/2012/02/29/20120229_C8313_DOC_EN_10587.pdf

Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd.

CONTACT: Donovan Pollitt, P.Eng., CFA

President & CEO

416-360-3743 ext 25



or



George Mannard, P.Geo.

Vice President, Exploration

416-360-3743 ext 22



8 King St. East, Suite 1305

Toronto, ON, M5C 1B5

Toll Free: 1-866-4-WDO-TSX

Phone: 416-360-3743, Fax: 416-360-7620

Email:invest@wesdome.com, Website: www.wesdome.com