Mr. Phillip Walford reports

MARATHON HITS 5.40 G/T AU OVER 20.0 METERS, 1.82 G/T AU OVER 82.0 METERS (MARATHON DEPOSIT) & 6.47 G/T AU OVER 5.0 METERS (LEPRECHAUN DEPOSIT), VALENTINE LAKE GOLD CAMP, NEWFOUNDLAND

Marathon Gold Corp. has had continued drilling success at both the Marathon and Leprechaun gold deposits, Valentine Lake gold camp, central Newfoundland. Infill drilling at the Marathon deposit, along the southwest and northeast ends of the main mineralized corridor, succeeded in intersected 5.40 grams per tonne gold over 20.0 metres and 5.89 g/t Au over 6.0 metres in MA-17-182 as well as 1.82 g/t Au over 82.0 metres in MA-17-183. Drilling at the Leprechaun deposit, focused on the downdip extension of the main zone of mineralization, intersected high-grade gold with 25.88 g/t Au (uncut) over 3.0 metres in VL-17-644 and 6.47 g/t Au over 5.0 metres in VL-17-645. The summer drilling campaign has ramped up with four drills currently operating 24/seven as the company expands the open-pit and underground resources at both the Marathon and Leprechaun deposits.

Drilling highlights:

• Marathon deposit drill holes MA-17-182 and MA-17-183 drilled down through the main mineralized corridor in both the northeastern and southwestern portions of the Marathon deposit, intersecting high-grade intervals to help deepen the open pit with 5.40 g/t Au over 20.0 metres including 11.82 g/t Au over 7.0 metres and 5.89 g/t Au over 6.0 metres including 28.66 g/t Au over 1.0 metre in MA-17-182, and 1.82 g/t Au over 82.0 metres including 9.19 g/t Au over 4.0 metres, 4.32 g/t Au over 3.0 metres, and 5.55 g/t Au over 4.0 metres in MA-17-183.
• Leprechaun deposit drill holes VL-17-644 and VL-17-645 succeeded in intersecting high-grade gold in downdip extensions of the main zone of mineralization with 25.88 g/t Au (uncut) over 3.0 metres in VL-17-644 and 6.47 g/t Au over 5.0 metres including 14.03 g/t Au over 2.0 metres and 3.18 g/t Au over 3.0 metres in VL-17-645.
• Four drill rigs are now operating round the clock at the Valentine Lake gold camp. The Marathon deposit has three drill rigs working on expanding the open-pit resource along strike to the southwest, deepening the open pit in the central portion of the deposit as well as expanding the underground resource. The Leprechaun deposit has one drill focused on expanding the downdip extension of the high-grade underground resource.
• Drilling results from May, 2017, until now represent just 10 per cent of the 60,000-metre Valentine gold camp drilling campaign. Drilling will continue at both the Marathon and Leprechaun deposits, as the company focuses on expanding both its open-pit and higher-grade underground resources.
• The drilling at the Marathon deposit over the next month will involve a combination of exploration and infill holes. The longer drill holes, including MA-17-182 and MA-17-183, are designed for infill in the upper portion of the hole and exploration in the deeper sections. Some planned holes will explore along strike to the southwest to expand the pit shell while others will explore for additional mineralization in the hangingwall and footwall of the resource pit and reduce the strip ratio.

"The drilling at both the Marathon and Leprechaun deposits continues to return excellent intercepts as we continue building both our shallow open-pit and deeper underground resources. The gold system we are exploring and developing is over 20 km long and we know from drilling that it has the potential to extend beyond one km to depth," said Phillip Walford, president and chief executive officer of Marathon. "We have reported just 10 per cent of our current 60,000-metre drilling campaign completed; we anticipate releasing more exciting drilling results over the next few months as we continue to expand our global gold resources at the Valentine Lake gold camp."

  SIGNIFICANT FIRE ASSAY INTERVALS FROM DRILL HOLES MA-17-182 AND MA-17-183
  (MARATHON DEPOSIT) AS WELL AS VL-17-644 AND VL-17-645 (LEPRECHAUN DEPOSIT),
                          VALENTINE LAKE GOLD CAMP

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

MA-17-182      15     18             3               2.9     2.03
               29     33             4               3.8     1.30
               41     44             3               2.9     1.46
               73     76             3               2.9     1.65
               99    119            20              19.0     5.40
including     103    110             7               6.7    11.82
including     114    115             1               1.0     8.66
              166    169             3               2.9     1.45
              210    213             3               2.9     1.44
              218    221             3               2.9     3.20
              237    243             6               5.7     5.89
including     237    238             1               1.0    28.66
              248    251             3               2.9     1.43
MA-17-183     123    126             3               2.9     5.93
              144    147             3               2.9     9.64
              179    182             3               2.9     1.60
              189    203            14              13.3     1.99
              226    229             3               2.9     1.47
              242    324            82              77.9     1.82
including     246    250             4               3.8     9.19
including     256    257             1               1.0     4.20
including     282    283             1               1.0     4.64
including     289    292             3               2.9     4.32
including     308    312             4               3.8     5.55
including     323    324             1               1.0     8.99
              368    371             3               2.9     2.79
VL-17-644     244    247             3               2.9    25.88           13.07
including     244    245             1               1.0    71.42           33.00
              335    338             3               2.9     2.53
VL-17-645     116    119             3               2.7     1.63
              263    266             3               2.7     3.01
              271    274             3               2.7     1.75
              335    340             5               4.5     6.47
including     338    340             2               1.8    14.03
              353    356             3               2.7     1.93
              358    361             3               2.7     3.18
                                             
* Capping level for the Leprechaun deposit -- 33.0 g/t Au. 

Acknowledgments

Marathon acknowledges the financial support of the JEA program, Department of Natural Resources, government of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Research & Development Corp. of Newfoundland and Labrador has granted approximately 75 per cent of the costs of the current seismic program to Marathon Gold and the company appreciates this support.

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 were analyzed for Au by fire assay (30 grams) 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 thicknesses (75 per cent to 95 per cent of core length).

About Marathon Gold Corp.

Marathon is a 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 gold resources totalling 1,388,200 ounces gold at 1.91 g/t (measured and indicated) and 766,500 ounces gold at 2.24 g/t (inferred) (February, 2017).

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