Wesdome Announces Changes to the Board of Directors Including Retirement of Chairman Charles Page

TORONTO, April 08, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd. (TSX: WDO) (“Wesdome” or the “Company”) today announces upcoming changes to the Board of Directors (the “Board”).

At the Company’s upcoming 2019 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (“AGM”), Mr. Charles Page will retire as Chairman and director and will not stand for re-election. In addition, Mr. Rowland Uloth will also be retiring from the Board and will not stand for re-election at the AGM.

Pursuant to the Board’s succession plan, following the AGM and pending his re-election to the Board, Mr. Warwick Morley-Jepson will be appointed as the new independent Chairman of the Board. Mr. Morley-Jepson has more than 35 years experience in the mining industry within operations, project and business development in the precious metal sector.  He served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Kinross Gold Corporation from October 2014 to December 2016, and as Senior Vice President, Operations, and Vice President and Regional Vice President - Russia, between October 2009 and October 2014. Prior to joining Kinross, Mr. Morley-Jepson served as Chief Executive Officer of SUN Gold, a privately-held gold mining company with interests in Russia and Kazakhstan. Prior to that he was Managing Director of Barrick Africa, Barrick Platinum South Africa and three Russian-based companies in the Barrick group, and spent several years with Placer Dome leading their South African project and business development efforts. Mr. Morley-Jepson graduated in the faculty of Mechanical Engineering (HND) at the Technicon Witwatersrand, now part of the University of Johannesburg. Mr. Morley-Jepson has been an independent director of the Board since June 2017.

Mr. Page commented, “During my tenure as a director and then Chair of Wesdome in 2015, the Company has seen steady production growth at the Eagle River Mine as a result of operational improvements and exploration success from the aggressive programs launched. Since 2016, the cash flow this asset generates has financed all exploration and development at the Kiena Complex, which has uncovered a new high-grade gold system that is being considered for a mine re-start. As the Company transitions from a junior to intermediate gold producer, the time has come to hand the reins over to Warwick Morley-Jepson. His extensive knowledge, skills and experience as a mine operator positions him well to assume the Chair role as the Company enters this new stage. I am tremendously proud of the achievements of Wesdome to date. The Company has established solid operational performance, exploration successes, and delivered excellent shareholder returns along the way. With this progress, there remains much upside, and I look forward to continuing with the Company as a technical advisor. I wish to take this opportunity to thank all our shareholders for their confidence and trust during my tenure as Chair.”

Mr. Duncan Middlemiss, President and CEO, added, “On behalf of the Board and management, I would like to thank both Charlie and Rolly for their many years of service and valuable contributions to the Company. Their knowledge, commitment, and guidance have contributed greatly to the success of Wesdome and our vision of becoming Canada’s next mid-tier gold producer.”

2019 Director Nominees

In connection with the AGM, the Company is pleased to announce that the Governance and Nominating Committee has recommended, and the Board of Directors (the “Board”) has approved, six director nominees, including new independent director nominee Mr. Brian Skanderbeg.

Mr. Skanderbeg has been the founding President and CEO of GFG Resources Inc. since July 2016. Previously, he was President and CEO of Claude Resources Inc. (“CRJ”) which was acquired by SSRM Inc. for $337 million in June of 2016. He joined CRJ in March 2007 as Exploration Manager, before assuming the roles of Vice-President of Exploration and Chief Operating Officer. He also worked for Goldcorp Inc., Inco Ltd. and Helio Resources Corp., holding positions in both exploration and operations. Mr. Skanderbeg holds a B.Sc. in Geology from the University of Manitoba and an M.Sc. in Exploration Geology from Rhodes University, South Africa. He brings extensive experience in the exploration and evaluation of gold systems, operational management, cost and asset optimization and strategic analysis. He has been a licensed professional geologist in the Province of Saskatchewan since 2007.

In addition to Mr. Skanderbeg who will stand for election at the AGM, Charles Main, Duncan Middlemiss, Nadine Miller, Warwick Morley-Jepson and Bill Washington will stand for re-election.

2019 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders

The Company invites shareholders to attend the AGM being held at 10:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday, May 14, 2019 at the TMX Broadcast Centre located at 130 King Street West, Toronto, Ontario, M5X 1C9. Shareholders of record as of the close of business on April 1, 2019, being the record date, will be eligible to vote at the meeting. Complete details of the AGM are contained in the Company’s 2019 Management Information Circular, which will be available on the Company’s website and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com on April 9, 2019.

ABOUT WESDOME

Wesdome Gold Mines has had over 30 years of continuous gold mining operations in Canada.  The Company is 100% Canadian focused with a pipeline of projects in various stages of development.  The Eagle River Complex in Wawa, Ontario is currently producing gold from two mines, the Eagle River Underground Mine and the Mishi Open pit, from a central mill.  Wesdome is actively exploring its brownfields asset, the Kiena Complex in Val d’Or, Quebec.  The Kiena Complex is a fully permitted former mine with a 930-metre shaft and 2,000 tonne-per-day mill.  The Company has further upside at its Moss Lake gold deposit, located 100 kilometres west of Thunder Bay, Ontario.  The Company has approximately 135.8 million shares issued and outstanding and trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol “WDO”.

This news release contains “forward-looking information” which may include, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the future financial or operating performance of the Company and its projects. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “plans”, “expects”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates”, or “believes” or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this press release and the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances, management’s estimates or opinions should change, except as required by securities legislation. Accordingly, the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company has included in this news release certain non-IFRS performance measures, including, but not limited to, mine operating profit, mining and processing costs and cash costs. Cash costs per ounce reflect actual mine operating costs incurred during the fiscal period divided by the number of ounces produced.  These measures are not defined under IFRS and therefore should not be considered in isolation or as an alternative to or more meaningful than, net income (loss) or cash flow from operating activities as determined in accordance with IFRS as an indicator of our financial performance or liquidity. The Company believes that, in addition to conventional measures prepared in accordance with IFRS, certain investors use this information to evaluate the Company's performance and ability to generate cash flow

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