Leprechaun Open-Pit Drilling in Core of the Main Zone Corridor Hits: 4.27 g/t Au over 126.0 m, 3.02 g/t Au over 153.0 m, 4.11 g/t Au over 42.0 m and 5.06 g/t Au over 30.0 m, Valentine Gold Camp, NL

Drilling Highlights:

• Recent drilling hits new high-grade gold mineralization with abundant visible gold in the Main Zone corridor of the Leprechaun Deposit, further defining a continuous corridor of high-grade gold ranging from 30 meters to more than 80 meters wide, extending from surface for 300 meters to the bottom of the open pit and beyond, and stretching along strike for more than 270 meters (refer to Figures 1, 2 and 3). This current program of drilling downward at high-angle to and through the shallow SW dipping en-echelon stacked QTP-Au veining demonstrates significant additional width and higher gold grades for the Main Zone of the Leprechaun Deposit. It also shows the continuous nature of the high-grade gold from surface to depths beyond the bottom of the open pit, particularly significant in areas of limited previous drilling along the southwestern portion of the Main Zone gold corridor.
   
  • VL-19-681 intersected 4.27 g/t Au over 126.0 meters including 12.21 g/t Au over 19.0 meters, 13.80 g/t Au over 5.0 meters, 8.63 g/t Au over 6.0 meters, 8.40 g/t Au over 6.0 and 67.97 g/t Au over 1.0 meters, and  4.11 g/t Au over 42.0 meters including 8.08 g/t Au over 11.0 meters, and 2.45 g/t Au over 33.0 meters (refer to Figure 3).
     
  • VL-19-686 intersected 3.02 g/t Au over 153.0 meters including 12.47 g/t Au over 8.0 meters, 5.66 g/t Au over 9.0 meters, 11.30 g/t Au over 4.0 meters, and 47.70 g/t Au over 1.0 meter, and 2.21 g/t Au over 17.0 meters, and 1.93 g/t over 43.0 meters (refer to Figure 2) .
     
  • VL-19-688 intersected 5.06 g/t Au over 30.0 meters including 14.12 g/t Au over 8.0 meters, 5.04 g/t Au over 24.0 meters including 10.40 g/t Au over 2.0 meters and 71.31 g/t Au over 1.0 meters, and 4.06 g/t Au over 10.0 meters including 12.80 g/t Au over 2.0 meters.
     
  • VL-19-687, collared further towards the southwest end of the Main Zone corridor in an area of limited previous drilling, also intersected significant intervals of gold mineralization including 4.32 g/t Au over 12.0 meters, 3.45 g./t Au over 7.0 meters, and 3.53 g/t Au over 5.0 meters.  
     
  • Drill holes along the outer northwest side (hanging-wall side) of the Main Zone corridor hit significant gold mineralization while also defining the outer margin of the mineralized corridor; returning intervals of 5.18 g/t Au over 8.0 meters and 6.48 g/t Au over 3.0 meters in VL-19-685, 8.06 g/t Au over 3.0 meters in VL-19-684, and 2.54 g/t Au over 4.0 meters in VL-19-683.
     
  • The high-grade gold core of the Main Zone corridor of the Leprechaun Deposit now extends continuously for more than 270 meters along strike, extends from surface to a depth of more than 300 meters, and has a true width that ranges from 30 meters to more than 80 meters. Additional planned drilling is expected to increase the strike length of the high-grade core of the Main Zone corridor.

TORONTO, May 09, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Marathon Gold Corporation (“Marathon” or the “Company”) (TSX: MOZ) is very pleased to announce these excellent results from new drilling down through the SW dipping, en-echelon stacked QTP-Au veining of the Leprechaun Deposit’s Main Zone corridor. Drill holes VL-19-681 to VL-19-688, as well as previously released VL-19-679 and VL-19-680, were collared along the upper edge of the Main Zone corridor (Figures 1 and 2), and are part of a series of planned infill drill holes that will cover an 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 veins which form the dominant vein orientation within the Main Zone corridor of the Leprechaun Deposit, providing increased width to the Main Zone corridor and increased continuity the high-grade mineralization extending from surface to the bottom of the open pit and beyond into potential future underground resource development.  Additional drill holes already completed along strike, for which assays are still pending, have also intersected wide intervals of QTP veining with abundant visible gold. The current drilling program is designed to both further confirm the geological model for the Leprechaun Deposit and to continue to upgrade Inferred resource material into the Measured and Indicated resource categories.

“The current program of drilling down through the en-echelon stacked QTP-Au veining every 20 meters along strike on the Main Zone is succeeding in joining high-grade gold both along strike and down dip. The new drill results have increased the true width of the Main Zone corridor from the previously modeled 20 to 30-meter width to the new 30 to 80-meter width and even greater in some areas”, said Phillip Walford, President and CEO of Marathon. “With our new drilling, we are able to justify greater high-grade influence over a zone that extends for more than 270 meters along strike and over 300 meters to depth. These excellent drill results, in conjunction with similar positive results from additional drilling, are expected to increase the ounces/tonnes and grades in the measured and indicated resource categories for the Leprechaun Deposit”.

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

* Cut to 45 g/t Au, no significant intervals in VL-19-682.

Check out the new video posted on our website www.marathon-gold.com detailing what the project will look like as a mine.

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 (“QA/QC”)

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 (75% - 85% 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 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 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 50% to 70% recoveries via lower cost heap leaching at both the Marathon and Leprechaun Deposits.

To find out more information on the Valentine Gold Camp project, please visit www.marathon-gold.com.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
Except for statements of historical fact relating to Marathon Gold Corporation, certain information contained herein constitutes "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements include statements that are predictive in nature, depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or include words such as "expects", "anticipates", "plans", "believes", "considers", "intends", "targets", or negative versions thereof and other similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as "may", "will", "should", "would" and "could". We provide forward-looking statements for the purpose of conveying information about our current expectations and plans relating to the future and readers are cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes.  By its nature, this information is subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that may be general or specific and which give rise to the possibility that expectations, forecasts, predictions, projections or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that assumptions may not be correct, and that objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be achieved. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to those identified and reported in Marathon Gold Corporation's public filings, which may be accessed at www.sedar.com.  Other than as specifically required by law, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, whether as a result of new information, future events, results or otherwise.

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/79ed0ef2-8128-435b-af05-b81bf1926dce

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0be01c9d-82fb-4def-81a8-249e20f3a3f3

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Figure 1

Figure 1: Location of high-grade gold core within the Main Zone corridor, drill hole collars VL-19-681 to VL19-688 and cross sections 10040E and 10100E, Leprechaun Gold Deposit

Figure 2

Figure 2: Cross-section 10040E, Leprechaun Deposit, showing the 30 to >80 meter-wide, moderately NW dipping Main Zone corridor composed of thick and laterally extensive high-grade gold mineralization within en-echelon, shallow SW dipping QTP-Au veining. Note the fire assay intervals of 3.02 g/t Au over 153.0 meters in VL-19-686.

Figure 3

Figure 3: Cross-section 10100E, Leprechaun Deposit, showing the 30 to >80 meter-wide, moderately NW dipping Main Zone corridor composed of thick and laterally extensive high-grade gold mineralization within en-echelon, shallow SW dipping QTP-Au veining. Note the fire assay intervals of 4.27 g/t Au over 126.0 meters and 4.11 g/t Au over 42.0 meters in VL-19-681.