Step-Out Drilling Successfully Expands the Mineralized Corridor of the Marathon Deposit Area to Over 1.7 km Strike Length, Valentine Gold Camp

TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - March 30, 2016) - Marathon Gold Corp. ("Marathon" or the "Company") (TSX: MOZ) today announced positive results from the winter 2016 drilling southwest from the Marathon Deposit, Valentine Gold Camp. The latest drill program consisted of 13 widely spaced step-out drill holes targeting mineralization underneath boggy areas of the property that are not amenable to drilling outside the winter.  These holes were planned to extend the mineralization corridor associated with the Marathon trend and successfully intersected zones of variable quartz-tourmaline-pyrite (QTP) veining and penetrative alteration for up to 800 meters southwest of previous drilling completed in 2015.  This veining and alteration pattern is typical of the gold mineralization found throughout the Valentine Gold Camp.

The total strike length of the mineralized corridor now extends for at least 1.7 kilometers, including the 450 meters strike length of the current Marathon Deposit resource pit shell, 450 meters of high-priority drill target area immediately southwest of the resource, and 800 meters of lower priority drill target area defined by the latest drill holes MA-16-079 to 091 (Figure 1). Future infill drilling will target resource development along this extensive mineralized corridor.  Additionally, step out drilling will focus along the 2.5 kilometers of unexplored ground located between the Sprite and Marathon deposit areas as well as the highly prospective ground to the northeast of the Victory Deposit.

Highlights:

• The new widely spaced (200 meters) step-out drilling has extended the mineralized corridor another 800 meters to the southwest along strike from previous drilling in the Marathon Deposit area;  intersecting zones of alteration and QTP-Au veining with grades of up to 5.11 g/t Au over 2.1 meters (True Thickness) in MA-16-083, 4.84 g/t Au over 2.8 meters (TT) in MA-16-090, and 3.94 g/t Au over 2.1 meters (TT) in MA-16-087. Most of the holes hit alteration and typical QTP veining, often over 10 m or more although the gold values in most of these zones were less than 0.5 g/t Au. The widths of the zones with anomalous gold, demonstrate that the mineralized system is present and needs to be followed along strike 2.5 kilometers SW to the Sprite Deposit.
• The occurrence of visible gold and high-grade gold intervals, including 15.01 g/t Au over 1 meter in MA-16-083, 10.47 g/t Au over 1 meter in MA-15-078, 9.20 g/t Au over 1 meter and 9.69 g/t Au over 1 meter in MA-16-090, and 10.99 g/t Au over 1 meter in MA-16-087, within wide low grade alteration intervals is encouraging and suggests the proximity of better nearby mineralization.
• The total strike length of the mineralized corridor, including the Marathon Deposit resource pit shell, now extends for at least 1.7 kilometers. The highest priority infill drilling will focus on the 450 meters of strike length immediately southwest of the current Marathon Deposit resource pit shell.
• Planning is now underway for construction of a drill access road along the 2.5 kilometer length of overburden-covered ground located southwest from the Marathon Deposit to the Sprite Deposit area.  The recent drilling at the Marathon and Sprite Deposit areas plus new geophysical interpretation suggests that the mineralized trend continues between these two deposits and that other open pit targets may exist.
• Late fall 2015 near surface drill holes not previously released for the Sprite Zone (VL-15-610 to VL-15-614) intersected up to 5.78 g/t Au over 2.8 meters (TT) and confirmed the NE continuation of the mineralized corridor from the Sprite resource pit shell. Future infill and step out drilling is planned for the Sprite Deposit area. In addition, drilling is planned for the area between Victory and Victory North East where geophysics indicates a possible extension of the Victory Deposit.

 "This 2016 step-out drilling campaign has succeeded in significantly increasing the strike length of the mineralized corridor SW from the Marathon Deposit and developing a host of infill drill targets for additional resource development," said Phillip Walford, President and CEO of Marathon. "Future exploration will involve a combination of infill and step-out drilling between the Sprite to Marathon and the Marathon to Victory Deposit areas, as well as continued prospecting and trenching, as we focus on developing a critical mass of open pit resources at the Valentine Gold Camp."

TABLE 1:  Significant assay intervals from the Marathon Zone drill holes MA-15-078, MA-16-079 to MA-16-091 and Sprite Zone drill holes VL-15-610 to VL-15-614.

All of the samples were fire assayed at Eastern Analytical Laboratory Ltd., in Springdale, Newfoundland.

Marathon Gold Corp. acknowledges the financial support of the JEA Program, Department of Natural Resources, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Sherry Dunsworth, M.Sc., P. Geo., VP of Exploration, Marathon's Qualified Person, has reviewed the contents for accuracy and has approved this press release on behalf of Marathon.

About Marathon Gold Corporation

Marathon is a Toronto based gold resource company focused on its 100% owned Valentine Gold Camp located in central Newfoundland. The Valentine Gold Camp currently hosts four near-surface, mainly pit-shell constrained, gold resources totaling 1,060,100 oz. gold at 2.20 g/t (Measured & Indicated) and 200,000 oz. gold at 2.85 g/t (Inferred), (April 2015). These resources, open along strike and to depth, cover less than 6% of the total length of the highly prospective Valentine Lake Thrust Fault and associated splay faults which host the majority of the gold mineralization within the property. For more information please visit  www.marathon-gold.com.  

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

Except for statements of historical fact relating to Marathon Gold Corp., 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 Corp.'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.

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Contact

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