Lake Shore Gold Announces Reserve Estimate for Timmins West Mine, New Reserve to Support Next Five Years of Production

• Probable reserve estimate includes 823,848 ounces (4,922,180 tonnes @ 5.21 grams per tonne ("gpt")), level of reserves consistent with Company's objective of maintaining 3 to 5 years of reserves ahead of production
  
  
• Estimate represents 73% conversion of ounces from existing indicated resources, grades in line with estimates used for previously released Preliminary Economic Assessment
  
  
• Ongoing drilling and other work to target additional conversion of resources to reserves, upgrading inferred resources to indicated and adding new resources through continued exploration success

TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (MARKETWIRE) -- 04/02/12 -- Lake Shore Gold Corp. (TSX:LSG)(NYSE Amex:LSG) ("Lake Shore Gold" or the "Company") today announced a new reserve estimate for the Company's Timmins West Mine, located 18 kilometres west of the Timmins, Ontario. Timmins West Mine is a commercial producing underground mining operation involving the extraction of ore from two adjacent deposits, Timmins Deposit and Thunder Creek Deposit. The new reserve estimate for the Timmins West Mine includes 823,848 ounces Au (4,922,180 tonnes grading 5.21 gpt), all in the probable reserve category. The reserves were estimated from the conversion of existing indicated resources totaling 1,122,500 ounces (5,826,000 tonnes grading 5.99 gpt). Current inferred resources of 791,500 ounces (4,272,000 tonnes grading 5.76 gpt) were not included in the reserve calculation.

Tony Makuch, President and CEO of Lake Shore Gold, commented: "For an underground mine early in its operating life, 3 to 5 years of reserves is a reasonable and appropriate level. We are very pleased that we have achieved the high end of that range with our new reserve at Timmins West Mine. Our intention is to complete the required drilling and other work to continue to build both our reserves and resources in order to maintain an ongoing 3 to 5 year reserve life. We are also pleased with the conversion rate of indicated resources into reserves and are encouraged that our average grade matches very closely to the grade used in our Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA")."

A National Instrument ("NI") 43-101 technical report supporting the reserve estimate being announced today is expected to be filed by mid-May 2012 on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

The new reserve for Timmins West Mine was estimated using a target cut-off of 3.0 gpt. Dilution rates were estimated as follows: 28% internal dilution at 1.20 gpt and 15% external dilution at 0.0 gpt at Timmins Deposit, and 31% internal dilution at 1.50 gpt and 8% external dilution at 0.60 gpt at Thunder Creek Deposit. In addition, the reserve estimate also includes a 10% mineability factor that was applied to the reserve base to allow for unrecoverable losses.

The estimation of reserves for Timmins West Mine was derived from the current base of indicated resources, which was included as part of an updated resource estimate released on February 15, 2012 (see press release entitled "Lake Shore Gold Confirms Large-Scale Resource For Timmins West Mine"). The Timmins West Mine resources are summarized below.

The results of a PEA for the Timmins West Mine were released in a press release entitled, "Lake Shore Gold Announces Results of Preliminary Economic Assessment for Timmins West Mine, PEA Highlights Potential for Positive Economics, Substantial Cash Flow and Attractive Returns," on February 28, 2012. The PEA was based on the new resource estimate and considered both indicated and inferred resources. A technical report for the PEA and new resource estimates was filed on SEDAR on March 30, 2012.

Consistent with CIM guidelines, the reserve estimate considers the results of additional engineering work on a subset of the indicated resource base only and the mineral reserves are not exclusive of the mineral resource. Costs and other key assumptions in the reserve estimate are consistent with those in the PEA. Specific work carried out in the reserve estimate analysis includes more detailed assessments of mining methods, individual stope designs, dilution and mineability factors, design of ramp and level access, stope sequencing and production rates.

Qualified Persons

Lake Shore Gold's reserve estimate was prepared by the Company's Projects Team. All work for the reserve estimate was performed under the direct supervision of Brian W Buss, P. Eng. Mr. Buss is Vice-President, Project Development and is an employee of Lake Shore Gold. Mr. Buss is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument ("NI") 43-101 and has reviewed the technical information included in this press release.

The reserve estimate was calculated from the mineral resources for the Timmins West Mine, as set out in the technical report filed on SEDAR. The Qualified Persons ("QP") for the updated resource estimate areDean Crick, P. Geo, Director of Geology,Bob Kusins, P. Geo, Chief Resource Geologist andRalph Koch, P. Geo, Chief Mine Resource Geologist.Dean Crick,Bob KusinsandRalph Kochare all considered Qualified Persons according to the definitions of NI 43-101 and are all employees of Lake Shore Gold.

About Lake Shore Gold

Lake Shore Gold is a gold mining company that is in production and pursuing rapid growth through the successful exploration, development and operation of three wholly owned, multi-million ounce gold complexes in the Timmins Gold Camp. The Company is in commercial production at both the Timmins West and Bell Creek mines, with material being delivered for processing to the Bell Creek Mill. A 50% mill expansion, to 3,000 tonnes per day, is advancing towards completion by late 2012. The Company continues to have an active drilling program aimed at supporting current operations and evaluating high-priority exploration targets around the Timmins Camp. The Company's common shares trade on the TSX and NYSE Amex under the symbol LSG.