Mr. Matt Manson reports

MARATHON GOLD REPORTS POSITIVE RESULTS FROM 2020 SPRITE CORRIDOR DRILLING AT THE VALENTINE GOLD PROJECT

Marathon Gold Corp. has released initial drill results from the 2020 exploration drill program at the Valentine gold project, central Newfoundland. These latest results represent fire assay data from the first eight drill holes of a planned 32,000-metre drill program within the six-kilometre-long Sprite corridor, located between the Marathon and Leprechaun deposits. The eight drill holes cover a 200-metre-long strike length of quartz-tourmaline-pyrite-gold (QTP-Au) veining extending to the northeast of Section 13410E, and confirm the emergence of a developing Main zone-type sequence of mineralization in an important new area now named the Berry zone.

Highlights include:

• VL-20-799 intersected 2.24 grams per tonne gold over 55.0 metres, including 15.17 g/t Au over 3.0 metres, and 1.57 g/t Au over 15.0 metres, including 5.87 g/t Au over 2.0 metres.
• VL-20-801 intersected 3.92 g/t Au over 8.0 metres, including 9.63 g/t Au over 2.0 metres, and 1.54 g/t Au over 9.0 metres, including 3.66 g/t Au over 2.0 metres.
• VL-20-797 intersected 3.02 g/t Au over 8.0 metres, including 6.80 g/t Au over 2.0 metres.
• VL-20-800 intersected 3.02 g/t Au over 5.0 metres.

All quoted intersections comprise uncut gold assays in core lengths. All significant assay intervals are reported in the associated table.

Matt Manson, president and chief executive officer, commented: "These first drill results from our 2020 exploration drill program have confirmed the presence of Main zone-style mineralization in the Sprite corridor of a type characteristic of the nearby large-scale Leprechaun and Marathon deposits. Within this new Berry zone, thick sequences of stacked, en echelon QTP-Au veins located proximal to the Valentine Lake shear zone have now been drilled at Section 13410E, which returned the previously announced VL-18-676 with 6.17 g/t Au over 49 metres (see press release dated June 25, 2018), and now Section 13500E, with VL-20-799 yielding 2.24 g/t Au over 55 metres and 1.57 g/t Au over 15 metres. A further 200 metres to the northeast, VL-19-786, also previously announced, returned 7.60 g/t Au over 22 metres (see press release dated Dec. 18, 2019). Assays are pending for an additional nine drill holes recently completed over a 600-metre strike to the northeast, which have also intersected significant QTP veining including visible gold. Although exploration in this area is still at a preliminary stage, we are highly encouraged by the results obtained to date."

      SIGNIFICANT ASSAY INTERVALS, SPRITE CORRIDOR, VALENTINE GOLD PROJECT

DDH           From        To       Core length      True thickness         Gold
               (m)       (m)               (m)                 (m)        (g/t)

VL-20-794       34        38                 4                 3.8         0.81
                44        47                 3                 2.9         0.87
VL-20-795       11        15                 4                 3.8         0.66
                55        58                 3                 2.9         0.63
VL-20-796        9        13                 4                 3.6         1.77
VL-20-797       27        30                 3                 2.9         1.46
                41        45                 4                 3.8         1.28
               133       141                 8                 7.6         3.02
including      134       136                 2                 1.9         6.80
               146       149                 3                 2.9         2.41
               183       186                 3                 2.9         2.24
               214       217                 3                 2.9         2.67
VL-20-798       75        78                 3                 2.7         0.58
VL-20-799       32        35                 3                 2.9         1.04
                56        59                 3                 2.9         0.97
                68        71                 3                 2.9         0.79
                87       102                15                14.3         1.57
including       87        89                 2                 1.9         5.87
               113       168                55                52.3         2.24
including      143       146                 3                 2.9        15.17
including      157       160                 3                 2.9        10.96
including      167       168                 1                 1.0         9.25
VL-20-800       85        90                 5                 3.5         3.02
including       85        86                 1                 0.7        11.39
               135       138                 3                 2.1         2.12
VL-20-801       49        58                 9                 6.3         1.54
including       56        58                 2                 1.4         3.66
               105       108                 3                 2.1         1.06
               109       112                 3                 2.1         1.25
               146       154                 8                 5.6         3.92
including      146       148                 2                 1.4         9.63
               157       160                 3                 2.1         1.32

Qualified person

Disclosure of a scientific or technical nature in this news release was prepared under the supervision of Sherry Dunsworth, MSc, PGeo (Newfoundland), the senior vice-president of exploration and a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101.

Quality assurance-quality control (QA/QC)

QA/QC protocols followed at the Valentine gold project include 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 0.30 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 attached table as core lengths and estimated true thickness (70 per cent to 95 per cent of core length).

Acknowledgments

Marathon acknowledges the financial support of the junior exploration assistance program, Department of Natural Resources, government of Newfoundland and Labrador.

About Marathon Gold Corp.

Marathon is a Toronto-based gold company rapidly advancing its 100-per-cent-owned Valentine gold project located in central Newfoundland, one of the top mining jurisdictions in the world. The Valentine gold project comprises a series of mineralized deposits along a 20-kilometre system of gold-bearing quartz-tourmaline-pyrite veins. The project is accessible by year-round road and is in close proximity to the provincial electrical grid. To date, four gold deposits at Valentine have been delineated, including the large Leprechaun and Marathon deposits.

We seek Safe Harbor.