West Kirkland Expands Nevada Drill Campaign to New Targets in Long Canyon Trend

VANCOUVER, Feb. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - West Kirkland Mining Inc. (TSXV: WKM) ("West Kirkland" or the "Company") is pleased to announce a new drill campaign commencing in March 2012 in the Long Canyon trend targeted on two gold anomalies several kilometers long defined by soil sampling by the Company. The gold anomalies correlate with major structural features in the emerging Long Canyon Trend. The Long Canyon deposit represents a new style of gold deposit for Nevada and the discovery culminated in the takeover of Fronteer Gold by Newmont in 2011. West Kirkland completed a transaction with Fronteer just before the Newmont takeover and has expanded its land position in the trend to hold the dominant land position with majority interest in over 1,000 square kilometers.

The Company collected 9,012 soil samples on a 75 X 75 meter grid covering selected sections of the Lewis Spring and Toano targets which led to the identification of several of West Kirkland's 2012 drill targets.

On the Lewis Spring target, the initial dataset identified a 53 square kilometer gold in stream anomaly using a similar technique that led to the Long Canyon discovery.  This gold in stream anomaly was followed-up with soil sampling that was highlighted by individual samples of up to 1.1 g/t Au in soil.  Mapping has highlighted two distinct target areas that will be drilled in 2012.  Approximately 5,200 meters in 18 reverse circulation holes are planned in the initial program.

On the Toano target, soil sampling has identified multiple Long Canyon Trend-parallel gold in soils anomalies with associated pathfinder elements.  The identified soil anomalies measure up to eight kilometers long and are coincident with pull-apart structures similar to Newmont's Long Canyon deposit. Rock samples as high as 1.625 g/t Au have been collected in the areas of the soil anomalies.  West Kirkland is planning on approximately 4,400 meters of drilling in ten reverse circulation drill holes.

On the Bandito target, West Kirkland has identified areas of high priority targets for 2012.  The Company has identified several north and northeast orientated structures with elevated gold in drilling.  Previous drilling was limited in depth and did not test the favourable underlying stratigraphy.  The Company will drill approximately 1,400 meters into the defined Bandito targets in four reverse circulation holes.

In addition, West Kirkland also plans to drill on its Gollaher property, located approximately 20 kilometers southeast of Jackpot, Nevada.  The property was previously drilled with approximately 80 holes by Freeport McMoran in the late 1980's.

At TUG, the Company has drilled approximately 1,300 meters in four holes so far in 2012.  Hole WT12-009 returned 1.13 g/t Au and 5.43 g/t Ag over 21.18 meters starting 168.25 meters down the hole.  This intercept confirms the potential for the deposit to expand and drilling is continuing. West Kirkland anticipates the completion of the maiden 43-101 resource estimate on the TUG deposit by the end of Q1 2012.

The Company has received results from drilling on the Bullion Mountain property. The hole intersected favourable stratigraphy at depth similar to the nearby Pipeline Mine operated by Barrick Gold.  No significant assays were received.  The Company's Long Canyon projects will be the priority targets in 2012.

The Company is pleased to announce that an NI 43-101 technical report by Caracle Creek International Consulting Inc. dated January 12, 2012 on its Nevada properties has been received and filed on SEDAR and is available on the Company's website.  The report validates the Company's enthusiasm for its Nevada portfolio. 

Key conclusions of the report are:

• It is CCIC's professional opinion that gold mineralization on the TUG property has been demonstrated to be continuous in three dimensions and at an economically significant gold grade.
• The Nevada land position has potential for structural and stratigraphic controlled gold mineralization and the independent recommended budget for Nevada Exploration is approximately $5,000,000.
• West Kirkland's initial data appears to corroborate the historical data on the TUG property. A further verification and a resource calculation program is recommended.

The recommended program and resource calculation are now in progress.

Qualified Person, Verification, Quality Control and Assurance

Samples of drill core were saw cut, with half the cut core placed in individual sealed bags and half placed back in the original core box for permanent storage.  Drill core samples were delivered directly by West Kirkland personnel to the ALS Chemex prep lab in Nevada.  Prepared pulps were shipped by ALS Chemex to their North Vancouver Lab where gold was determined by fire assay fusion with Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) finish.  ALS Chemex's North Vancouver Lab is ISO 9001:2008 certified and also is ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accredited by the Standards Council of Canada for the assay methods employed.

Michael G. Allen, Vice President of Exploration for West Kirkland, and a Qualified Person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed the information contained in this news release and has also verified the analytical data for drill core samples disclosed in this release by reviewing the blanks, duplicates and certified reference material that the Company inserted into the sample stream and confirming that they fall within limits as determined by acceptable industry practice.  He is the non-independent qualified person for this new release and has verified the data.

About West Kirkland Mining

West Kirkland Mining was formed in 2010 to focus on gold exploration along major trends in North America. The Company mission is to make a major gold discovery by working systematically near gold mines along major trends. The Company has consolidated significant mineral rights positions in the Kirkland Lake area of Ontario and within major gold trends of north eastern Nevada - two of North America's premier gold jurisdictions. The Company is well supported by experienced institutional shareholders. The founders and Board of West Kirkland Mining have successful gold discovery, development and mine operations experience in both Ontario and Nevada over the past 40 years.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Such information includes, without limitation, information regarding proposed exploration activities. Although the Company believes that such information is reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking information is typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking information provided by the Company is not a guarantee of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking information as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, the state of the financial markets for the Company's equity securities, the state of the market for gold or other minerals that may be produced generally, recent market volatility; variations in the nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located, the Company's ability to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for its activities, to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies and other risks associated with the exploration and development of mineral properties. The reader is referred to the Company's public filings for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects which may be accessed through the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

SOURCE West Kirkland Mining Inc

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