Mr. Matt Manson reports

MARATHON GOLD APPOINTS LEAD CONSULTANT FOR VALENTINE FEASIBILITY STUDY

Marathon Gold Corp. has appointed Ausenco Engineering Canada Inc. as the lead consultant for the feasibility study (FS) at the Valentine gold project in central Newfoundland.

As lead consultant for the FS, Ausenco will be responsible for process and facilities design, access and power infrastructure design, capital and operating cost estimation, and execution planning. As project manager of the FS, Ausenco will also be co-ordinating contractor engagement, with a strong focus on local procurement, service providers and employment. Working in co-ordination with Ausenco, Marathon has also engaged Moose Mountain Technical Services for open-pit mine design, site infrastructure design (waste rock piles and haul roads) and mine scheduling. Golder Associates Ltd. has been retained for the design of the tailings management facility. Since the reopening of the Valentine gold project camp on June 9, 2020, a number of feasibility-level site investigations have already been initiated, including with Terrane Geoscience Inc. for pit geotechnical drilling and slope design, and GEMTEC Consulting Engineers and Scientists Ltd. for hydrogeological and mine site geotechnical drilling. Stantec Consulting Ltd. is the lead consultant for the continuing Valentine gold project environmental assessment.

Matt Manson, president and chief executive officer, commented: "The Valentine gold project feasibility study will be based on the same high-value, low capex project scope that we outlined in our April, 2020, prefeasibility study. This comprises two open pits at Leprechaun and Marathon feeding a central process plant with conventional milling over a 12-year mine life. Throughput will remain at 2.5 [million tonnes per annum], scaling to four Mtpa in year four. Based on the prefeasibility study, this design yields 175,000 ounces of gold per annum for years one to nine for an initial capital outlay of $272-million, and results in an after-tax [internal rate of return] of 36 per cent and [net present value] 5 per cent of $472-million at a $1,350 (U.S.)/oz gold price. For our feasibility study, we are returning to the same Ausenco-Moose Mountain-Golder core engineering team to further develop the basis of estimate of this successful design, under the supervision of our new owner's team of Tim Williams and Paolo Toscano. Current exploration activities, being conducted with a view to the discovery of future mineral resources that could be added to this base mine plan, will continue uninterrupted through the FS work."

The FS is expected to take approximately six months to complete, with results expected in the first quarter of 2021. This work will be financed from existing cash resources, with Marathon's treasury standing at $54-million as of June 30, 2020.

Qualified person

Scientific and technical information contained in this news release was reviewed and approved by James Powell, PEng (Newfoundland), vice-president of regulatory and government affairs. Mr. Powell is a qualified person in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 -- Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects and has approved the technical content of this news release.

About Marathon Gold Corp.

Marathon is a Toronto-based gold company advancing its 100-per-cent-owned Valentine gold project located in the central region of Newfoundland and Labrador, 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, prefeasibility study outlined an open-pit mining and conventional milling operation over a 12-year mine life with a 36-per-cent after-tax rate of return. The project has estimated proven mineral reserves of 1.3 million ounces (26.3 million tonnes at 1.52 grams per tonne) and probable mineral reserves of 600,000 oz (14.8 million t at 1.23 g/t). Total measured mineral resources (inclusive of the mineral reserves) comprise 1.9 million oz (31.7 million t at 1.86 g/t) with indicated mineral resources (inclusive of the mineral reserves) of 1.19 million oz (23.2 million t at 1.60 g/t). Additional inferred mineral resources are 960,000 oz (16.77 million t 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.

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