Mr. Phillip Walford reports

MARATHON DRILLS CONTINUE HITTING HIGH-GRADE GOLD IN THE SOUTHWEST WITH 5.36 G/T AU OVER 11.0 METERS, 3.63 G/T AU OVER 10 METERS, AND 18.40 G/T AU OVER 6.0 METERS, VALENTINE LAKE GOLD CAMP, NEWFOUNDLAND

Marathon Gold Corp. continues intersecting multiple intervals of en echelon stacked QTP veining with moderate and high-grade gold grades at open-pit depths in the southwestern part of the Marathon deposit. Drill holes MA-18-330, MA-18-334, MA-18-323 and MA-18-325 all succeeded in intersecting significant intervals of good gold grades as the company continues to further define the main mineralized corridor in this southwestern part of the Marathon deposit, focusing on widening the shallow open-pit resources and decreasing strip ratio.

"We are delighted with the continued success of the 2018 drilling program as we significantly increased the Valentine Lake global resources, upgraded the PEA and found more high-potential exploration targets. The coming 2019 drilling season will see our efforts focused primarily on converting strategic inferred open-pit resource blocks into indicated resources," said Phillip Walford, president and chief executive officer of Marathon Gold. "The 2018 infill drilling campaign has been very successful at upgrading inferred to measured and indicated resource categories at the Marathon deposit as well as discovering new zones of high-grade gold for further drilling within the pit shells. The results released today are part of the continued successful infill drilling program. I look forward to the drilling, metallurgy, engineering and environmental studies generating a positive preliminary feasibility study in 2019."

           SIGNIFICANT ASSAY INTERVALS, MARATHON DEPOSIT, VALENTINE LAKE GOLD CAMP
                                                                                 
DDH         From (m)   To (m)   Core length (m)  True thickness (m) Gold (g/t)  Gold (g/t) (cut)*

MA-18-321        37       40                 3                 2.1       1.54
MA-18-322        67       75                 8                 6.0       1.55
including        74       75                 1                 0.8       5.65
MA-18-323       134      144                10                 8.0       3.63
including       136      139                 3                 2.4       8.51
                151      158                 7                 5.6       1.05
                276      279                 3                 2.4       2.45
MA-18-325        57       62                 5                 4.3       4.64
including        58       60                 2                 1.7      10.87
                161      167                 6                 5.1       3.32
MA-18-326       130      134                 4                 3.6       1.84
MA-18-329        25       29                 4                 3.2       8.22
MA-18-330        14       19                 5                 4.0       2.98
including        15       17                 2                 1.6       6.20
                 26       37                11                 8.8       5.36
including        28       30                 2                 1.6      10.67
including        35       37                 2                 1.6      12.27
MA-18-331        13       16                 3                 2.9       2.31
                 44       48                 4                 3.8       1.10
                 86       89                 3                 2.9       1.25
MA-18-332       125      128                 3                 2.6       2.20
                151      154                 3                 2.6       1.43
                192      195                 3                 2.6       1.54
                202      205                 3                 2.6       1.18
MA-18-334        27       32                 5                 4.8       1.58
                 66       69                 3                 2.9       1.65
                 99      105                 6                 5.7      18.40              8.50
including       104      105                 1                 1.0     104.39             45.00
                128      131                 3                 2.9       1.65
                182      185                 3                 2.9       4.75
                203      206                 3                 2.9       1.32
                222      245                23                21.9       1.92
including       235      240                 5                 4.8       5.45
                253      256                 3                 2.9       2.53
MA-18-335       122      125                 3                 2.9       2.27
                149      152                 3                 2.9       1.25
                266      269                 3                 2.9       1.96
                277      282                 5                 4.8       1.90
including       277      278                 1                 1.0       6.37
                299      302                 3                 2.9       2.21
 
* MA-18-324, 327 and 328 previously released, FA cut to 45 g/t Au                

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

Sherry Dunsworth, MSc, PGeo, senior vice-president 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 Ltd. in Springdale, Nfld. All reported core samples are analyzed for Au by fire assay (30 g) 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 the table as core lengths and estimated true thickness (70 to 95 per cent of core length).

About Marathon Gold Corp.

Marathon is a Toronto-based gold exploration company rapidly advancing its 100-per-cent-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 totalling 2,691,400 ounces of gold at 1.85 grams per tonne and inferred resources totalling 1,531,600 ounces of gold at 1.77 g/t.

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