TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Sep 13, 2016) - Kirkland Lake Gold Inc. ("Kirkland Lake Gold" or the "Company") (TSX:KGI), an intermediate gold producer with operations in Ontario, Canada, today announces that effective September 15, 2016, the trading symbol on the Toronto Stock Exchange for Kirkland Lake Gold will change from ″KGI″ to ″KLG″. As well, the Company is pleased to announce the appointment of Meri Verli, Senior Vice President, Finance and Treasurer (effective September 14, 2016), Pierre Rocque, Vice President Mining Engineering (effective September 26, 2016), and Ray Yip, as Vice President Business Intelligence Systems (effective September 3, 2016).

In addition, the Company announces that Mr. Chris Stewart, the Vice President of Operations is no longer with the Company. The Company thanks Mr. Stewart for his efforts and wishes him continued success.

Anthony (Tony) Makuch, President and CEO of the Company, commented: "We are very pleased to be gaining the wealth of experience and expertise that Meri, Pierre, and Ray bring to their respective roles Kirkland Lake Gold. They have all worked extensively in the mining sector, and are very familiar with gold mining in northern Ontario, which will add depth to our existing management team. In addition, throughout their distinguished careers, they have gained an appreciation for the importance of economic returns, which is an overriding focus of both the Company's board and management team.

"As well, we have re-branded the Company and are announcing a ticker symbol change which is more reflective of our corporate identity. Our new brand illustrates the ongoing evolution of the Company and incorporates the new ticker symbol "KLG". Kirkland Lake Gold's commitment is to be a responsible, growing, low cost and profitable gold company in order to maximize shareholder returns. Our new logo is a visual representation of this commitment. Currently, the Company has a market capitalization of approximately $1.4 billion and at the end of August had cash and cash equivalents of $184 million, illustrating our ability to generate cash and remain profitable."

The trading symbol for Kirkland Lake Gold will change from ″KGI″ to ″KLG″, effective at the opening of trading on Thursday, September 15, 2016. The change in the Corporation's trading symbol was also announced by the Toronto Stock Exchange by way of a Bulletin dated September 13, 2016.

The two issues of convertible debentures will continue to trade under the symbols KGI.DB and KGI.DB.A on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

No action is required to be taken by current shareholders in connection with the change. There is no change in the Company's name, no change in its CUSIP number, and no change has been made to the Company's share capital.

Management Appointment

Ms. Verli is a Chartered Professional Accountant with over 9 years of financial management experience in the mining sector and 18 years of overall industry experience. Ms. Verli started her career with KPMG in the audit and consulting practice and ended her tenure as Senior Manager of the firm's audit practice. Ms. Verli was most recently the Vice President Finance with Lake Shore Gold Corp., providing senior financial planning and analysis support, treasury responsibilities and managing the internal controls. She played a key role in building the accounting department as the Company transitioned from a junior exploration company to a commercial producer. Ms. Verli holds a Bachelors of Economy, a Bachelors of Geology and a PhD in Economic Sciences.

Mr. Rocque is a mining engineer with over 25 years of experience. He has worked at many gold mines in Canada, including as Vice President Engineering for St Andrew Goldfields, Director Technical Services at Lake Shore Gold, Chief Engineer at the Red Lake, QR and Macassa mines, Rock Mechanics Engineer at Hemlo's Golden Giant Mine and various mining engineering roles at Hoyle Pond and Agnico-Eagle's Joutel mines. Mr Rocque also worked as Manager Mine Improvement Projects and Chief Engineer-Geotechnical at WMC (now BHP Billiton) Olympic Dam mine in Australia. Most recently, Mr. Rocque was the Global Practice Director - Mining at Hatch. Mr Rocque graduated from l'Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal with a Bachelor degree in Mining Engineering and from Queen's University at Kingston with a Master's degree in Mining Engineering.

Raymond Yip is a computer engineer with over 15 years of experience in the IT industry, with 10 years in the mining sector. Most recently, he served as Director, Information Systems for Lake Shore Gold Corp. since 2011. Prior to that, Mr. Yip provided IT consulting services to various mining companies including QuadraFNX, DMC Mining and Torex Gold. Having held progressively senior positions at a major Canadian telecommunications company, Mr. Yip has diverse IT experience across various industries including financial, healthcare and automotive. Mr. Yip holds a Bachelor of Applied Science degree from Queen's University.

About the Company

Kirkland Lake Gold Inc. is a Canadian focused, intermediate gold producer with assets in the historic Kirkland Lake gold camp, and east of the Timmins gold camp along the Porcupine-Destor Fault Zone, both in northeastern Ontario. The Company is currently targeting annual gold production of between 270,000 to 290,000 ounces from its cornerstone asset, the Macassa Mine Complex and the Holt Mine Complex which includes the Holt, Holloway and Taylor mines.

The Company is committed to building a sustainable mining company that is recognized as a safe and responsible gold producer with quality assets in safe mining jurisdictions.

The Toronto Stock Exchange has neither reviewed nor accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This Press Release contains statements which constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of the Company with respect to the future business activities and operating performance of the Company. The words "may", "would", "could", "should", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are based on the opinions, assumptions and estimates of management considered reasonable at the date the statements are made such as, without limitation, opinion, assumptions and estimates of management regarding the Company's business. Such opinions, assumptions and estimates, are inherently subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other known and unknown factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. These factors include those risk factors discussed or referred to in the Company's annual Management's Discussion and Analysis and Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2015, and the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis for the interim period ended June 30, 2016, filed with the securities regulatory authorities in certain provinces of Canada and available 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 to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements except as otherwise required by applicable law.