Mr. Greg Chamandy becomes the largest shareholder of Richmont Mines

Look up the PowerRating of RIC and see how it has performed over the past week as well as the current proprietary PowerRating.

MONTREAL, May 12, 2009 (Canada NewsWire via COMTEX) -- RIC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Greg Chamandy to Join the Richmont Board of Directors and to Serve as

its Vice-Chairman

Mr. H. Greg Chamandy, ("Greg Chamandy") announced today that he and entities in which he owns directly or indirectly a majority of the votes (collectively referred to as "We" or "we"), collectively own 2,610,000 common shares of Richmont Mines Inc. ("Richmont" or the "Company"), constituting 10.0% of the outstanding 26,100,000 common shares of the Company. Richmont trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange (the "TSX") and the AMEX stock exchanges under the ticker symbols RIC:TO and RIC, respectively. All purchases of Richmont common shares were made through open market purchases on the TSX commencing January 15, 2009.

Richmont produces gold from its operations in Canada and has extensive experience in gold exploration, development and mining. Based on publically available information, since the Company began production in 1991, the Company has produced more than 1,000,000 ounces of gold from its holdings in Quebec, Ontario and Newfoundland. Richmont's strategy is to cost effectively develop its mining assets, exploit mineralized reserves on properties owned and acquired, or develop partnerships to expand its reserve base.

Greg Chamandy has been added to the slate to be elected to Richmont's Board of Directors at its Annual Meeting to be on May 14, 2009 and, if elected, has been asked to serve as the Company's Vice-Chairman.

"I look forward to serving on the Board of Directors of Richmont, a proven leader in gold exploration, development and mining in the Abitibi region of Quebec and to serving as its Vice-Chairman", said Greg Chamandy. "The Fraser Institute(1) has recently reported its findings that Quebec is the best jurisdiction in the world to operate in the gold mining industry, and we believe that Richmont is the leading junior gold producer in Quebec and one of the best junior gold producers in Canada.

Greg Chamandy, age 50, has an excellent track record in developing small companies into major corporations. As co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Gildan Activewear, Greg Chamandy built what was a simple textile manufacturer into a sophisticated vertically integrated apparel manufacturing giant. Over the course of his leadership at Gildan, the company grew from its $30 million initial public offering in 1998 to a market capitalization of over $830 million in 2004. The resulting 31.8% average annual return to Gildan shareholders far outperformed the 2.8% average annual return achieved by the S&P/TSX Composite Index over that time. Subsequent to Gildan, Greg Chamandy became the Chairman and co-owner of Europe's Best, North America's largest selling brand of frozen fruit, which was sold to JM Smucker in 2008. Greg Chamandy is currently also the Chairman of Oxbridge Private Wealth Management, a Canadian asset management company catering to high net worth individuals, and the Co-Chairman of Liquid Nutrition Inc., a rapidly growing Canadian smoothie and health bar chain.

"I will do everything in my power, and I will use my experience and network of relationships in the business and investment communities to assist the Board of Directors and the management of the Company to bring Richmont to its fullest potential, and to maximize shareholder value. Based on publically available information, Richmont has a balance sheet with over $27 million of cash in the bank and no debt whatsoever. The Company has the potential to grow both organically or through acquisition and strategic partnerships."

"We have made this investment a part of our long-term investment portfolio as we are strong believers that an allocation to gold and the gold sector is a key component to long term portfolio diversification. Furthermore, we believe the extreme uncertainty that currently surrounds the global economy should continue to underpin net investment demand for gold."

Greg Chamandy and entities in which he owns directly or indirectly a majority of the votes are not acting in concert with any person in connection with Richmont. They acquired all of their Richmont common shares for investment purposes and may, or may not, increase or decrease their ownership of common shares of Richmont in the future, depending on market conditions.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements that include risks and uncertainties as well as those risks and uncertainties as set out in the section entitled "Risk Factors" contained in Richmont's Annual Information Form dated March 27, 2009. When used in this news release, the words "estimate", "project", "anticipate", "expect", "intend", "believe", "hope", "may" and similar expressions, as well as "will", "shall" and other indications of future tense, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and apply only as of the date on which they were made.

(1) Fraser Institute general information info@fraserinstitute.org

SOURCE: Oxbridge Bank & Trust SCC

SOURCE: Richmont Mines Inc.

Anne-Marie Durand, NATIONAL Public Relations, (514) 843-2319

More News:   Market Updates | Stock Alerts | All Trading News | Stock Index