TORONTO, Sept. 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Marathon Gold Corporation (“Marathon” or the “Company”) (TSX:MOZ) is pleased to report the very positive results of new drilling down through the en-echelon stacked quartz-tourmaline-pyrite-gold (QTP) veining of the Main Zone corridor at the Leprechaun Deposit, Valentine Lake Gold Camp, central Newfoundland. The new drilling confirms the continuity of excellent gold grades down through the more than 350-meter deep and 25-60-meter wide mineralized Main Zone corridor of the Leprechaun Deposit (Figures 1 & 2). The dominant shallow southwest dipping en-echelon QTP veining and lesser shear parallel QTP veining of the Leprechaun Deposit is similar to the dominant shallow dipping QTP veining of the Marathon Deposit as well as elsewhere throughout the Valentine Gold Camp.

Figure 1: Location map showing the new drill holes VL-17-647 to VL-17-654, Leprechaun Deposit Figure 2: Cross section 10,000 showing continuous down-dip high grade gold mineralization through the dominantly en-echelon stacked, shallow dipping quartz-tourmaline-pyrite-gold veining of the main zone corridor, Leprechaun Deposit.

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/835495f6-b512-4e0e-9174-8ccf39dc129a

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9b952b8a-976f-4422-8439-9520f5c7d6f0

The drill holes VL-17-653 and VL-17-654, collared 10 meters apart on section 10,000 (Figure 2) were designed to penetrate down through the Main Zone corridor of the Leprechaun Deposit, proving the continuous nature of the gold mineralization down through the stacked QTP vein arrays as well as laterally out into the hanging wall. VL-17-653 intersected 3.42 g/t Au over 181 meters including 8.91 g/t Au over 9 meters, 9.86 g/t Au over 9 meters, 8.46 g/t Au over 11 meters, 19.05 g/t Au over 4 meters and 7.45 g/t Au over 19 meters. VL-17-654 intersected 2.65 g/t Au over 301 meters including 4.31 g/t Au over 18 meters, 5.07 g/t Au over 73 meters and 5.36 g/t Au over 45 meters.

Drilling continues at the property with the focus now on expanding the Marathon resource with both infill and step-out drilling. Marathon has now released the results on just 31% of its planned 60,000-meter drill campaign.

Drilling Highlights:

• VL-17-653 intersected 3.42 g/t Au over 181 meters including 8.91 g/t Au over 9 meters, 9.86 g/t Au over 9 meters, 8.46 g/t Au over 11 meters, 19.05 g/t Au over 4 meters, 7.45 g/t Au over 19 meters, and 5.39 g/t Au over 5 meters.
  
  
• VL-17-654 intersected 2.65 g/t Au over 301 meters including 5.07 g/t Au over 73 meters, 5.36 g/t Au over 45 meters, 4.31 g/t Au over 18 meters, and 6.21 g/t Au over 6 meters.
  
  
• VL-17-649, VL-17-651 and VL-17-652, which were drilled across the strike of the Main Zone, intersected 3.57 g/t Au over 16 meters with 9.21 g/t Au over 5 meters in VL-17-652, 4.15 g/t Au over 3 meters with 9.87 g/t Au over 1 meter in VL-17-649, and 5.62 g/t Au over 3 meters in VL-17-651.
  
  
• Additional drill holes, drilled down through the hanging wall of the Leprechaun Deposit, intersected good hanging wall QTP veining including 6.35 g/t Au over 4 meters with 24.15 g/t Au over 1 meter in VL-17-649, 5.70 g/t Au over 3 meters with 11.80 g/t Au over 1 meter in VL-17-647 and 4.39 g/t Au over 3 meters in VL-17-651.
   
• New drill holes VL-17-655 and VL-17-656, drilled down through the shallow SW dipping stacked QTP veining of the Main Zone corridor at sections 10120 and 10250, respectively, intersected wide intervals of QTP veining with abundant visible gold. Assays are pending.
   
• Re-modelling of the Leprechaun Deposit, with a focus on the Main Zone corridor as well as hanging wall QTP veining, is currently underway in advance of the resource update for the Leprechaun Gold Deposit.

“The results of this drilling are very important in confirming the geological model being used in the new resource,” said Phillip Walford, President and CEO of Marathon. “The high-grade areas tested to date in the Main Zone of the Leprechaun Deposit are much better defined by our recent drilling. Four drill rigs are continuing to add to the resources at both the Marathon and Leprechaun Deposits. We are on track to complete the property-wide resource estimation by early November and begin the PEA.”

TABLE 1: Significant fire assay intervals from drill holes VL-17-647 to VL-17-654, Leprechaun Gold Deposit, Valentine Lake Gold Camp.

*Cut off 33.0 g/t – 2015 Leprechaun Resource Update

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 60% - 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.

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

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.