Marathon Gold Corporation (TSX: MOZ) is pleased to announce the excellent results from drill holes MA-19-350, MA-19-351 and MA-19-352, which were strategically located between existing, strongly mineralized drill holes in the open pit portion of the Marathon Deposit (Figure 1). Each of these drill holes succeeded in intersecting strongly mineralized, en-echelon stacked QTP-Au veining with thick intervals of higher-grade gold intercepts. The intent of the infill drilling program is two-fold; first, to further confirm Marathon’s geological model by demonstrating the extensive lateral continuity of the QTP-Au veining into adjacent drill holes both along and across strike; and second, to continue to upgrade Inferred resource material into the Measured and Indicated resource categories.

“The infill holes are adding confidence to our model and providing better definition of the mineralization. As with all infill programs, we expect there will be changes to the resources. So far, we see good correlation of the mineralization as predicted by the geological model including the presence of visible gold,” said Phillip Walford, President and CEO of Marathon Gold. “These new gold intersections are expected to upgrade Inferred material to Measured and Indicated resources while also adding additional Inferred material. Assays are pending on more drill holes located along the strike length of the deposit (Figure 1), all of which have intersected wide intervals of QTP veining with abundant visible gold. All initial fire assay analysis above 0.1 g/t Au are further assayed using the metallic screen method which more accurately reflects free gold content and typically shows a significant increase in grade for material over 1.5 g/t Au at the Marathon Deposit.”

TABLE 1: Significant assay intervals, Marathon Deposit, Valentine Lake Gold Camp.

Figure 1:

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Figure 2: 

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0f8993e8-e1f3-4416-8353-141ef1561541

Acknowledgments

Marathon acknowledges the financial support of the Junior Exploration Assistance Program, Department of Natural Resources, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Quality Assurance-Quality Control

Sherry Dunsworth, M.Sc., P. Geo., Senior VP of Exploration, Marathon’s Qualified Person, has reviewed the contents for accuracy and has approved this press release on behalf of Marathon. Thorough QA/QC protocols are followed including the insertion of blanks and standards at regular intervals in each sample batch. Drill core is cut in half with one half retained at site, the other half tagged and sent to Eastern Analytical Limited in Springdale, Newfoundland. All reported core samples are analyzed for Au by fire assay (30g) with AA finish. All samples above 0.10 g/t Au in economically interesting intervals are further assayed using metallic screen to mitigate the presence of coarse gold. Significant mineralized intervals are reported in Table 1 as core lengths and estimated true thickness (95% of core length).

About Marathon

Marathon is a Toronto based gold exploration company rapidly advancing its 100% owned Valentine Lake Gold Camp located in Newfoundland and Labrador, one of the top mining jurisdictions in the world. The Valentine Lake Gold Camp currently hosts four near-surface, mainly pit-shell constrained, deposits with measured and indicated resources totaling 2,691,400 oz. of gold at 1.85 g/t and inferred resources totaling 1,531,600 oz. of gold at 1.77 g/t. The majority of the resources occur in the Marathon and Leprechaun deposits, which also have resources below the current open pit shell. Both deposits are open to depth and on strike. Gold mineralization has been traced down over 350 meters vertically at Leprechaun and almost a kilometer at Marathon. The four deposits identified to date occur over a 20-kilometer system of gold bearing veins, with much of the 24,000-hectare property having had only minimal exploration activity to date.

The Valentine Lake Gold Camp is accessible by year-round road and is in close proximity to the provincial electrical grid. Marathon maintains a 50-person all-season camp at the property. Recent metallurgical tests have demonstrated 93% to 98% recoveries via conventional milling and 50% to 70% recoveries via low cost heap leaching at both the Leprechaun and Marathon Deposits.