KL Gold / Detour Update

Toronto, Ontario –– January 28, 2020 – Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. (“Kirkland Lake Gold” or the “Company”) (TSX:KL) (NYSE:KL) (ASX:KLA) is pleased to announce that at a special meeting of shareholders held earlier today (the “Meeting”), Kirkland Lake Gold shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favour of the resolution (the “Kirkland Shareholder Resolution”) approving the issuance of up to 77,407,217 common shares of Kirkland Lake Gold (“Kirkland Shares”) in connection with the proposed acquisition of Detour Gold Corporation (“Detour Gold”) (TSX: DGC) by way of a plan of arrangement (the “Arrangement”).

155,221,082 Kirkland Shares, representing 74.05% of the issued and outstanding Kirkland Shares as at the record date, were voted at the Meeting and the Kirkland Shareholder Resolution was approved by approximately 98.99% of votes cast by Kirkland Lake Gold shareholders either in person or represented by proxy at the Meeting. The report of voting results will be made available under the Company’s profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov.

In addition to the approval by Kirkland Lake Gold shareholders, Detour Gold shareholders approved the Arrangement at the special meeting of Detour Gold shareholders held earlier today.

Tony Makuch, President and Chief Executive Officer of Kirkland Lake Gold, commented: “We are pleased that our shareholders have voted overwhelmingly in support of our acquisition of Detour Gold. Once complete, the transaction will create a highly competitive, truly unique company in the gold mining industry. By combining Detour Lake with our Macassa and Fosterville mines, we will have three cornerstone assets in our two core jurisdictions of Canada and Australia, all three of which possess free cash flow generating operations, significant in-mine growth potential, and considerable regional exploration upside.

“The new Kirkland Lake Gold will be an industry leader in profitability, cash flow generation and cash resources. Given our significant financial strength, we will become increasingly active over the next year repurchasing our shares and growing our quarterly dividends. Under our normal course issuer bid (“NCIB”), we have the ability to repurchase up to 10% of our common shares in the public float, with remaining capacity under our current NCIB for future repurchases of up to 20 million shares. As we continue to generate free cash flow, both the NCIB and dividend will be important tools used to provide attractive returns to shareholders.” 

The Arrangement is expected to be completed on January 31, 2020, subject to approval by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and satisfaction of certain other closing conditions. Pursuant to the terms of the Company’s current NCIB, the Company can purchase up to 20,989,692 Kirkland Shares for cancellation, with 933,900 Kirkland Shares having been purchased to date. The current NCIB expires on May 28, 2020 and is expected to be renewed for an additional year at the time of expiration.

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