Marathon Gold Corporation (TSX: MOZ) is pleased to announce continued excellent results from infill drilling along the Main Zone corridor of the Leprechaun Deposit. These drill holes, as well as the previously released 2019 drill holes collared along the upper edge of the Main Zone corridor (refer to Figure 1), are part of the series of planned infill drill holes that will cover a more than 800-meter strike length of the Main Zone corridor. These drill holes are designed to penetrate down through the shallow SW dipping, stacked gold-bearing QTP-Au veins which form the dominant vein orientation within the Main Zone corridor of the Leprechaun Deposit, increasing the width of the Main Zone corridor and improving the continuity of high-grade mineralization extending from surface beyond the bottom of the open pit into potential future underground resource development.  The current drilling program is designed both to further confirm the geological model for the Leprechaun Deposit and to continue to upgrade Inferred resource material into the Measured and Indicated resource categories.

“These new wide intervals of high-grade gold at Leprechaun continue to expand the size and grade of the high-grade Main Zone while the lower grades in the hanging wall will assist in reducing the overall strip ratio of the Leprechaun open pit,” said Phillip Walford, President and CEO of Marathon Gold. “The 2019 Leprechaun drilling campaign, which is nearing completion, has succeeded in stitching together the high-grade areas of the Main Zone. Drilling has commenced at the Marathon Deposit and we look forward to the new Leprechaun Deposit resource estimation due in September.”

Mr. Walford added “The gold price is enhancing our project as well. The press release for the PEA released October 30, 2018 considers after tax of project payback, IRR and NPV with changes in gold prices in Table 4. The base price used for the study was $ 1250 USD per ounce of gold gives an after-tax project payback of 2.5 years, an IRR of 30%, and an NPV of $ 432 M USD with a 5% discount rate. The highest gold price used in the sensitivities in Table 4 was $ 1350 USD per ounce of gold and that gives an after-tax pay project payback of 2 years, an IRR of 36%, and an NPV of $ 616 M USD with a 5% discount rate. That is a marked improvement from the base case. With the gold price slightly above $1400 today, all of these economic parameters are higher yet.”

TABLE 1: Significant assay intervals, Leprechaun Deposit, Valentine Gold Camp

Three figures accompanying this announcement are available at: 

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6d63de3b-ea27-4202-9297-2ecb72944c21

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/77af7df0-086b-4503-9e1e-66b20e0964a3

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b6ef896a-f15f-45f4-afeb-299f220f6e90

Please view the new video posted on our website www.marathon-gold.com showing layout plan for future mine site.

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 (80% – 90% of core length).

About Marathon

Marathon is a Toronto based gold company rapidly advancing its 100%-owned Valentine Gold Camp located in Newfoundland and Labrador, one of the top mining jurisdictions in the world.  Marathon has confirmed the feasibility of the Valentine Gold Camp, which currently hosts four near-surface, mainly pit-shell constrained, deposits with measured resources totaling 1,166,500 oz. of gold at 2.18 g/t, indicated resources totaling 1.524,900 oz. of gold at 1.66 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 at depth and on strike.  Gold mineralization has been traced down almost a kilometer vertically at Marathon and over 350 meters at Leprechaun. 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 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 an average of 65 to 72% extraction rates for 23 mm (1/2 inch) material via lower cost heap leaching at the Marathon and Leprechaun Deposits respectively.