VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, January 16, 2012 - West Kirkland Mining Inc. (WKM:TSXV) (“West Kirkland” or the “Company”) is pleased to provide a drilling update on its Cunningham property in Kirkland Lake, Ontario.  The Company drilled an additional 18 holes totaling 3,345.5 meters on the Cunningham property and intersected highlights of 7.85 g/t Au over 0.80 meters in Hole KC1184, 20.10 g/t Au over 1.00 meters in Hole KC1186, 17.80 meters of 1.25 g/t Au in Hole KC1187, and 2.00 meters grading 3.69 g/t Au in Hole KC1194.  Of the 18 additional holes drilled on the Cunningham property, ten holes had intercepts greater than one gram-meter.  These holes were drilled as a follow-up to results released on October 3, 2011 which included 16.15 g/t Au over 5.00 meters.

These intercepts confirm a three dimensional gold bearing target in classic Kirkland Lake style where further drilling will be used to map the best grade-thickness. The gold intercepts are adjacent to an underexplored splay of the Cadillac Lake-Larder Lake Break which has a length of two kilometers on the West Kirkland land position. The current intercepts outline the mineralization over a strike length of approximately 580 meters with a depth extent in excess of 375 meters. 

A summary of assay highlights is as follows:

In addition to the drilling on the Cunningham property, the Company has received results on an additional 20 holes drilled into regional targets.  Eleven of these holes returned values of greater than one gram-meter gold and may be targets for further drilling. The Company has discovered a gold structure that to its knowledge has not been previously drilled on the Goldbanks property.  The structure has been pierced by five drillholes to date with the best intercept returning 11.8 g/t Au over 0.3 meters starting 49.1 meters down the hole. 

2012 Kirkland Lake Exploration Plans

The results for 2011 in the Kirkland Lake area have validated the exploration model adapted by the Company since its formation. West Kirkland continues to follow a proven strategy of drilling along known “Breaks” or gold bearing structures. Systematic drill exploration along these Breaks for the best grade-thickness has proven to be a successful strategy for West Kirkland’s management team in the past, resulting in multiple mine discoveries.

Drilling continues in Kirkland Lake with two rigs. West Kirkland holds controlling options over 92 square kilometers in the west Kirkland Lake area between the Macassa Mine of Kirkland Lake Gold and the Young-Davidson Mine of Aurico.

Encouraged by results to date, the Company plans to drill approximately 15,000 meters of core on its Kirkland Lake properties in 2012.  Focus areas will include the Cunningham, Sutton and Goldbanks properties where the Company has identified three dimensional drill targets.  The Goldbanks target is 1.2 kilometers from the well-known Macassa Gold mine, # 3 shaft, operated by Kirkland Lake Gold.

Property Updates

Drilling results to date have allowed the Company to focus its existing property positions. The Company has entered into an option agreement whereby it can earn an additional 30% interest in its Flavelle property bringing its total option interest in this 15.11 square kilometre block to 100% less a 3% NSR, (1% purchasable for $3,000,000).  Terms of the option agreement are $10,000 on signing and an additional $100,000 in cash or stock over the next three years. 

The Company has terminated its option agreements on the Burteby and Kenogami properties covering 7.40 square kilometers. 

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 Timmins.  Prepared pulps were shipped by ALS Chemex to their North Vancouver lab where gold was determined by fire assay fusion with Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) 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 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 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.

For further information, please see the Company’s website at www.wkmining.com or contact us by email at [email protected] or call:

West Kirkland Mining Inc.
R. Michael Jones, Michael Allen or Knox Henderson at (604) 685-8311

Or

Sequoia Partners
James Beesley: 778-389-7715 or [email protected]

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.