Marathon Announces Appointment of Chief Operating Officer and awards Metallurgical Contract to SGS

TORONTO, Aug. 15, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Marathon Gold Corporation (“Marathon” or the “Company”) (TSX: MOZ) is pleased to announce the appointment of Robbert Borst as Chief Operating Officer of the Company effective August 1, 2018. Mr. Borst successfully managed the company’s initial Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for the Valentine Lake Gold Camp which was released on May 17, 2018.

Mr. Borst brings over 30 years of experience in operations, engineering, technical consulting services and project management. Mr. Borst has worked for large mining companies as well as junior mining companies worldwide which has given him a skill set and experience which will be beneficial to Marathon at this pivotal time in moving the Valentine Lake Gold Camp towards production.

Marathon has contracted SGS Canada Inc. (“SGS”) in Lakefield, Ontario, to conduct a comprehensive metallurgical and environmental evaluation of the Valentine Lake Gold Project. The program will include both the mill and heap leach processing options with the objective to better define the recovery methods in preparation for the Pre-Feasibility Study.

“We are delighted to have a mining professional of Mr. Borst’s caliber join the senior management team on a more permanent basis. Mr. Borst has proven to be a valuable member of the project team since joining the company in October 2017,” said Phillip Walford, President and CEO of Marathon Gold. The metallurgical test work at SGS will be overseen by metallurgical consultant Mr. John Goode and managed by Mr. Borst as part of the overall PFS, which is his responsibility.  The metallurgical work is an important part of the PFS. Increased recoveries in the heap leach and milling processes will improve the economics of the project.

Marathon is currently drilling HQ core specifically for the heap leach program.  Approximately 2000kg of samples will be used for Bond crusher work index tests, bottle roll leach tests and column leach tests.  The result will be a detailed evaluation and potentially improved recoveries for the heap leach option. An additional 2000kg of stored NQ half-core will be made available for comminution tests and gravity, flotation and cyanidation test work. Bulk flotation work will generate concentrate for further testing. This will provide a sound understanding of the potential performance of the various conventional gold recovery unit operations. Environmental tests will also be included in the program. The results will be used in the Pre-Feasibility Study scheduled to be completed in 2019.

About Marathon Gold Corporation

Marathon Gold Corp. is a high-quality growth-oriented gold development company with a long-term strategy of moving the 100% owned Valentine Lake Gold Camp through to production in central Newfoundland. Marathon recently completed a positive PEA that shows an average annual production of 188,500 ounces per year over the first 10 years, payback of 2.8 years, NPV (5%) of $367 million (USD) and an IRR of 25.3%, all after-tax. The Valentine Lake Gold Camp currently hosts four near-surface, mainly pit-shell constrained, deposits with measured and indicated resources totaling 2,137,100 oz. of gold at 1.99 g/t and inferred resources totaling 1,104,800 oz. of gold at 1.99 g/t. Most of the resources occur at the Marathon and Leprechaun Deposits. All the deposits are open to expansion. Marathon’s 240 sq. km sized Valentine Lake property has multiple exploration targets to be explored in 2018.

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

For more information, please contact:

Christopher Haldane                                                    
Investor Relations Manager                                        
Tel: 1-416-987-0714                                                   
E-mail: chaldane@marathon-gold.com                     

Phillip Walford
President and Chief Executive Officer
Tel: 1-416-987-0711
E-mail: pwalford@marathon-gold.com

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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.