NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

TORONTO, May 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Marathon Gold Corporation (“Marathon” or the “Company”; TSX: MOZ) is pleased to announce that it has filed and obtained a receipt for a short form final prospectus today with the securities regulatory authorities in each of the provinces of Canada, except Quebec, in connection with its previously announced offering (the “Offering”) whereby a syndicate of underwriters co-led by Canaccord Genuity Corp., Sprott Capital Partners and RBC Capital Markets and including Desjardins Securities Inc., National Bank Financial Inc., Scotia Capital Inc., Beacon Securities Limited, Haywood Securities Inc. and Laurentian Bank Securities Inc. (the "Underwriters"), agreed to purchase from the Company, on a bought deal basis, an aggregate of 20,000,000 units (the "Units") of the Company at a price of C$1.50 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of C$30 million.

Each Unit will be comprised of one common share of the Company ‎‎and one half of one common share ‎purchase warrant of the Company (each full warrant, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant will ‎‎entitle the holder to acquire one common ‎share of the Company at a price of C$1.90 per common share at any time on or before that date which is 12 months after the closing of the offering.

In addition, the Company has granted to the Underwriters an over-allotment option to acquire up to an additional 3,000,000 Units at a price of C$1.50 per Unit for additional gross proceeds of up to C$4,500,000, exercisable in whole or in part, at any time on or prior to the date that is 30 days following the closing date.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering to continue the permitting, development, and exploration of the Valentine Gold Project, as well as for working capital and general corporate purposes.

Closing of the Offering is expected to occur on or about May 26, 2020 and is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals, including the final approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Timing of Filings

As previously announced by Marathon on May 8, 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company is deferring its annual and special meeting of shareholders (the “AGM”) to a time later this year with the objective of being able to safely have an in-person meeting. Once a new date is established for the AGM, the Company will provide notice to shareholders and distribute its management information circular, including the statement of executive compensation, in accordance with regulatory requirements. Marathon is relying on Ontario Instrument 51-504 – Temporary Exemptions from Certain Requirements to File or Send Securityholder Materials of the Ontario Securities Commission to delay filings as otherwise required by subsection 9.3.1(2) and (2.2) of National Instrument 51-102 – Continuous Disclosure Obligations.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities described herein in the United States. The securities described herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to the account or benefit of a U.S. person absent an exemption from the registration requirements of such Act.

About Marathon

Marathon (TSX:MOZ) is a Toronto based gold company advancing its 100%-owned Valentine Gold Project located in central Newfoundland, one of the top mining jurisdictions in the world. The Project comprises a series of four mineralized deposits along a 20-kilometre system. An April 2020 Pre-Feasibility Study outlined an open pit mining and conventional milling operation over a twelve-year mine life with a 36% after-tax rate of return. The Project has estimated Proven Mineral Reserves of 1.3 Moz (26.3 Mt at 1.52 g/t) and Probable Mineral Reserves of 0.6 Moz (14.8 Mt at 1.23 g/t) and Total Measured Mineral Resources (inclusive of the Mineral Reserves) of 1.9 Moz (31.7 Mt at 1.86 g/t) and Indicated Mineral Resources (inclusive of the Mineral Reserves) of 1.19 Moz (23.2 Mt at 1.60 g/t). Additional Inferred Mineral Resources are 0.96 Moz (16.77 Mt at 1.78 g/t Au). Please see the technical report dated April 21, 2020 for further details and assumptions relating to the Valentine Gold Project.

For more information, please contact:

To find out more information on Marathon and the Valentine Gold Project, please visit www.marathon-gold.com.

A copy of the short form final prospectus is available online on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain information contained in this news release constitutes forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, which address events, results, outcomes or developments that Marathon expects to occur are 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", "estimates", "considers", "intends", "targets", or negative versions thereof and other similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as "may", "will", "should", "would" and "could". More particularly and without restriction, this news release contains forward-looking statements and information about Marathon’s intention to complete the Underwritten Offering and the timing thereof, economic analyses for the Valentine Gold Project, expectations around filing a statement of executive compensation, capital and operating costs, processing and recovery estimates and strategies, future exploration and mine plans, objectives and expectations and corporate planning of Marathon, future feasibility studies and environmental impact statements and the timetable for completion and content thereof and statements as to management's expectations with respect to, among other things, the matters and activities contemplated in this news release.

Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions and accordingly, actual results and future events could differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. You are hence cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. A mineral resource that is classified as "inferred" or "indicated" has a great amount of uncertainty as to its existence and economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that any or part of an "indicated mineral resource" or "inferred mineral resource" will ever be upgraded to a higher category of mineral resource. Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of mineral deposits in these categories will ever be converted into proven and probable mineral reserves.

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. Factors that could cause future results or events to differ materially from current expectations expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements include receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals, completion of all conditions to closing of the Underwritten Offering, availability of financing to fund Marathon’s exploration and development activities, the ability of the current exploration program to identify and expand mineral resources, operational risks in exploration and development for gold, Marathon’s ability to realize the pre-feasibility study, delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures, uncertainty as to calculation of mineral resources, changes in commodity and power prices, changes in interest and currency exchange rates, the ability to attract and retain qualified personnel, inaccurate geological and metallurgical assumptions (including with respect to the size, grade and recoverability of mineral resources), changes in development or mining plans due to changes in logistical, technical or other factors, title defects, government approvals and permits, cost escalation, changes in general economic conditions or conditions in the financial markets, environmental regulation, operating hazards and risks, delays, taxation rules, competition, public health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic and other uninsurable risks, liquidity risk, share price volatility, dilution and future sales of common shares, aboriginal claims and consultation, cybersecurity threats, climate change, delays and other risks described in Marathon’s documents filed with Canadian securities regulatory authorities. You can find further information with respect to these and other risks in Marathon’s Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2019 and other filings made with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and available at www.sedar.com. Other than as specifically required by law, Marathon undertakes 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 or results otherwise.