TORONTO, Sept. 07, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Marathon Gold Corporation (“Marathon” or the “Company”) (TSX:MOZ) is pleased to report continued positive drill results from the Marathon Deposit, Valentine Lake Gold Camp, central Newfoundland. New infill drilling further confirms the continuity of good gold grades through the 75-100-meter wide and more than 500-700-meter deep mineralized corridor of the Marathon Deposit, further enhancing the upgrading of Inferred resources to Measured and Indicated resource categories.  Drilling down the east edge of the main mineralized corridor intersected high-grade gold values including 3.45 g/t Au over 20 meters with 5.60 g/t Au over 9 meters and 12.85 g/t Au over 6 meters in MA-17-189, and 2.85 g/t Au over 15 meters with 30.72 g/t Au over 1 meter in MA-17-190. Steep drilling across the main mineralized corridor intersected 1.73 g/t Au over 43 meters with 4.36 g/t Au over 6 meters, 2.11 g/t Au over 19 meters and 4.72 g/t Au over 5 meters in MA-17-196, and 3.39 g/t Au over 28 meters with 16.71 g/t Au over 5 meters in MA-17-199 (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Location map showing the new drill holes MA-17-189 to MA-17-202, Marathon Deposit

Four drill rigs are operating 24/7 at the Marathon Deposit as work continues on expanding the open-pit resource along strike to the southwest, deepening the open-pit resource in the central portion of the deposit and expanding the underground resource. Marathon has now completed 31%, including yet to be released results from drilling at the Leprechaun Deposit, of its planned 60,000 meter drill campaign. Over the next month drilling at the Marathon Deposit will involve a combination of exploration and infill holes. Longer drill holes will be designed for infill in the upper portion of the hole and exploration in the deeper sections. Some planned holes will explore along strike to the southwest to expand the pit shell while others will explore for additional mineralization in the hanging wall and footwall of the resource pit and reduce the strip ratio.

Drilling Highlights:

• Drill holes MA-17-196 and MA-17-199, drilled steeply downward across the main mineralized corridor of the Marathon Deposit, intersected significant gold intercepts including 3.39 g/t Au over 28 meters with 16.71 g/t Au over 5 meters in MA-17-199, and 1.73 g/t Au over 43 meters with 4.36 g/t Au over 6 meters and 2.11 g/t Au over 19 meters with 5.48 g/t Au over 2 meters in MA-17-196.
  
  
• Drill holes MA-17-189 and MA-17-190, drilled sub-vertical down along the east margin of the main mineralized corridor of the Marathon Deposit, succeeded in intersecting high-grade gold in en-echelon stacked Quartz Tourmaline Pyrite-Gold (QTP) veining with 3.45 g/t Au over 20 meters including 5.60 g/t Au over 9 meters, 12.85 g/t Au over 6 meters, and 8.07 g/t Au over 5 meters in MA-17-189; and 2.85 g/t Au over 15 meters including 30.72 g/t Au over 1 meter in MA-17-190.
  
  
• Drill holes MA-17-189, MA-17-190, MA-17-196 and MA-17-199 confirm the 75 to 100-meter width and continuity of consistent good to high gold grades down through the main mineralized corridor of the Marathon Deposit. These intercepts will add significantly to the Marathon Deposit resource and the upgrading of existing resources at the Marathon Deposit from the Inferred to Measured and Indicated resource categories.
  
  
• Shallow infill drilling between previous widely spaced exploration drill holes in the SW end of the Marathon Deposit, succeeded in intersecting en-echelon, shallow SW dipping QTP veining with intercepts of 4.65 g/t Au over 3 meters in MA-17-198 and 2.56 g/t Au over 3 meters in MA-17-192.

“The ongoing drilling at the Marathon Deposit continues to succeed in confirming the continuity of good open pit and underground gold grades throughout the main mineralized corridor. These new gold intercepts will further enhance the growth of the gold resource at the Marathon Deposit as we advance to a PEA,” said Phillip Walford, President and CEO of Marathon. “Four drill rigs are operating 24/7 and we anticipate releasing more infill and exploration results over the coming months as we continue building both shallow open pit and deeper underground resources at the Valentine Lake Gold Camp.”

TABLE 1: Significant fire assay intervals from drill holes MA-17-189, 190, 192, 194, 196-199 and 201, Marathon Deposit, Valentine Lake Gold Camp.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5faa1ed1-3664-41ff-badf-effb24378f2b

Acknowledgments

Marathon acknowledges the financial support of the Junior Exploration Assistance Program, Department of Natural Resources, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Research & Development Corporation of Newfoundland and Labrador has granted approximately 40% of the costs of the current seismic program to Marathon Gold and we appreciate this support.

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 (between 70% - 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, 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 1,388,200 oz. of gold at 1.91 g/t and inferred resources totaling 766,500 oz. of gold at 2.24 g/t. The majority of the resources occur in the Marathon and Leprechaun deposits, which also have resources below the pit shell.  Both deposits are open to depth and on strike.  Gold mineralization has been traced down over 350 metres vertically at Leprechaun and almost a kilometer at Marathon. The four deposits outlined to date occur over a 20-kilometer system of gold bearing veins, with much of the 24,000-hectare property having had little detailed exploration activity to date. Drilling in 2017 is continuing to focus on expanding the Marathon Deposit at surface and to depth.

The Valentine Lake Gold Camp is accessible by year-round roads and is located in close proximity to Newfoundland’s 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.

To find out more information on the Valentine Lake Gold Camp 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.

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