Independent Proxy Advisory Firms ISS and Glass Lewis Recommend Kirkland Lake Gold Shareholders Vote FOR the Detour Gold Acquisition

• ISS and Glass Lewis recommend shareholders of Kirkland Lake Gold vote in favour of proposed plan of arrangement involving Detour Gold
  
• ISS states that the acquisition of Detour Gold “will add a long-life, high-quality asset to Kirkland's portfolio, and will strengthen the company's position as a senior gold producer”
• Glass Lewis notes that the combined company “will have complementary assets, incremental financial and operational scale, and various opportunities to realize incremental value for shareholders”
• Shareholders are encouraged to vote well in advance of proxy voting deadline of 11:00am (EST) on January 24, 2020. Questions? Need help voting? Contact Kingsdale Advisors at 1.877.659.1821

TORONTO, Jan. 16, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. (“Kirkland Lake Gold”, the “Company” or “KL”) (TSX:KL) (NYSE:KL) (ASX:KLA) is pleased to announce that the leading independent proxy advisors, Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. ("ISS") and Glass, Lewis & Co., LLC (“Glass Lewis”), have both recommended that the Company’s shareholders vote FOR the share issuance in connection with Kirkland Lake Gold’s proposed acquisition of Detour Gold Corporation (“Detour Gold”) (TSX: DGC) by way of a plan of arrangement (the “Arrangement”).

On November 24, 2019, Kirkland Lake Gold and Detour Gold entered into an arrangement agreement pursuant to which Kirkland Lake Gold will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Detour Gold on the basis of 0.4343 of a Kirkland Lake Gold common share for each Detour Gold common share held. Upon completion of the Arrangement, existing Kirkland Lake Gold and Detour Gold shareholders are expected to own approximately 73% and 27% of the outstanding shares of the pro forma company, respectively.

Following its assessment of the Arrangement, ISS stated, among other things, that:

“...the transaction makes strategic sense as it will add a long-life, high-quality asset to Kirkland's portfolio, and will strengthen the company's position as a senior gold producer with significant free cash flow. Furthermore, the company will emerge with a strengthened balance sheet and capital markets profile with a much larger reserve base and an extended mineral reserve life index.”