Mr. Tony Makuch reports

KIRKLAND LAKE GOLD PROVIDES 2017 GUIDANCE AND EMERGES AS A NEW HIGH QUALITY MID-TIER GOLD PRODUCER

Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. has emerged as a new high-quality mid-tier gold producer following the completion of the business combination with Newmarket Gold Inc.

Consolidated guidance for 2017 includes:

• Gold production between 500,000 and 525,000 ounces;
• Total operating costs (1) per ounce sold between $625 (U.S.) and $675 (U.S.);
• Total operating costs between $310-million (U.S.) and $320-million (U.S.);
• All-in sustaining costs (1) (AISC) per ounce sold between $950 (U.S.) and $1,000 (U.S.);
• Growth exploration expenditure between $45-million (U.S.) and $55-million (U.S.);
• Transitioning of the Stawell and Holloway gold mines to care and maintenance.

KL Gold is focused on increasing shareholder value by maintaining a strong foundation of quality gold production, generating free cash flow, and reinvesting in Tier 1 district-scale assets located in Canada and Australia. Extensive exploration potential, improved visibility to increase mine life and excess milling capacity at each operation position KL Gold to organically increase production to increase value for its shareholders. The combination of the high-grade Macassa mine complex and the low-cost Fosterville gold mine will form the production backbone of the company. KL Gold has a strong balance sheet, providing financial flexibility to enhance its strategy and aggressively explore district-scale opportunities, following the exciting high-grade discoveries made during 2016.

Tony Makuch, president and chief executive officer of KL Gold, stated: "Following the successful merger with Newmarket Gold, I am very pleased to provide guidance of 500,000 to 525,000 ounces of quality gold production from our high-grade gold mines located in Tier 1 mining jurisdictions of Canada and Australia. Today, our market capitalization stands at a significant discount to our peers with a similar cost and production profile, representing a clear value opportunity. I firmly believe the quality of our assets, district-scale exploration potential, combined with a strong balance sheet, will build investor confidence and drive value for our shareholders. With a strong operations team in Australia, I am confident in our ability to seamlessly integrate high-quality gold production from our Australian operations and leverage intellectual capital to assist all operations to become more efficient with potential opportunities to reduce costs. Our renewed focus is to execute and organically grow production while generating free cash flow.

"As a multimine company, we have the ability to analyze our business and focus on the highest-quality ounces. In doing this, we are applying our business acumen to create the best investment vehicle for our shareholders."

Care and maintenance

Effective Dec. 13, 2016 (AEST), KL Gold will commence transitioning the Stawell gold mine, located in Victoria, Australia, to care and maintenance. The mine will be maintained in a state of operational readiness to possibly recommence operations with activities focused on exploration programs on the East flank of the Magdala basalt, which hosts the Aurora B discovery. Aurora B results to date confirm the extension of mineralization along the Magdala East basalt flank, particularly within the Hampshire lode, which remains open to the north and the south and at depth. More than 2.3 million ounces of historical production at Stawell have come from the West flank of the Magdala mineralization system with no recorded production from the East basalt flank.

The company has also decided to transition the Holloway mine, part of the Holt mine complex in Northeastern Ontario, Canada, to care and maintenance due to limited economic viability. The majority of the work force will be reassigned to the nearby Kirkland Lake operations, effectively replacing external contractors. The company will continue to conduct aggressive surface exploration drill programs in 2017, which will progressively step farther west of the Holloway shaft, an area which has historically remained underexplored. Drilling will focus on testing the mafic volcanic/ultramafic volcanic contact to the north and will also target the westerly strike extension of the Lightning and Middle zones (which were previously mined at Holloway). Farther west of the Holloway deposit, drilling is under way at Lightval, and is planned for the Harker West target, as the company continues to explore for another Lightning-zone-style mineralization in the area. KL Gold will maintain the site in a production-ready state with the intent of restarting the operation in the future with meaningful and enhanced economics.

Kirkland Lake Gold consolidated 2017 outlook is as follows:

Gold production (ounces):  500,000 to 525,000

Total operating cost per ounce of gold sold:  $625 (U.S.) to $675 (U.S.)

All-in sustaining costs per ounce of gold sold:  $950 (U.S.) to $1,000 (U.S.)

Growth exploration expenditure:  $45-million (U.S.) to $55-million (U.S.)

Footnotes:

(1) Operating cost and all-in sustaining costs per ounce sold are non-generally accepted accounting principle measures. In the gold mining industry, these are common performance measures but do not have any standardized meaning, and are considered non-GAAP measures. The company believes that, in addition to conventional measures prepared in accordance with international financial reporting standards, certain investors use such non-GAAP measures to evaluate the company's performance and ability to generate cash flow. Accordingly, they are intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. A reconciliation of operating cost per ounce sold and AISC per ounce sold to total operating costs for the most recent reporting period, the three and nine months ended Sept. 30, 2016, and 2015, is set out in the company's third quarter and nine-month 2016 management's discussion and analysis filed on SEDAR and at the Kirkland Lake Gold website.

Qualified person

Simon Hitchman, FAusIMM (CP), MAIG, is a qualified person as such term is defined in National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information and data included in this news release. Pierre Rocque, PEng, vice-president, mine engineering, is a qualified person as such term is defined in NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information and data in this news release. As the vice-president, mine engineering, Mr. Rocque is not considered independent.

About Kirkland Lake Gold

Kirkland Lake Gold is a new mid-tier gold producer targeting 500,000-plus ounces in Tier 1 mining jurisdictions of Canada and Australia. The production profile of the company is anchored from three high-grade, low-cost operations, including the Macassa mine complex and the Taylor mine, located in Northeastern Ontario, and the Fosterville gold mine, located in the state of Victoria, Australia. Kirkland's solid base of quality assets is complemented by development and district-scale exploration projects, supported by a strong financial position with extensive management and operational expertise.

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