Drilling Highlights:
-- The ongoing open-pit infill drilling program at the Marathon Deposit is designed to penetrate down through the main mineralized corridor with the aim of continuing to increase confidence in the lateral continuity of high-grade gold mineralization between adjacent drill holes, and also moving inferred into measured and indicated resource categories. These latest drill holes into the core of the Marathon open-pit deposit were very successful; having intersected numerous new wide high-grade gold intervals to be incorporated into a future resource update (Figures 1 and 2):
<ul type="circle"><p>-- MA-19-357 intersected 12.49 g/t Au over 13.0 meters including 22.55 g/t Au over 7.0 meters, and 3.73 g/t Au over 15.0 meters including 6.28 g/t Au over 4.0 meters.
-- MA-19-357 intersected 12.49 g/t Au over 13.0 meters including 22.55 g/t Au over 7.0 meters, and 3.73 g/t Au over 15.0 meters including 6.28 g/t Au over 4.0 meters.
-- MA-19-359 intersected 4.19 g/t Au over 12.0 meters including 14.20 g/t Au over 3.0 meters and 4.78 g/t Au over 9.0 meters including 12.18 g/t Au over 3.0 meters.
-- MA-19-360 intersected 1.43 g/t Au over 40.0 meters including 4.03 g/t Au over 2.0 meters and 3.27 g/t Au over 2.0 meters.
2019 Program Update:
-- The February 21, 2019 announced sale of a 2% NSR to Franco Nevada not only raised $18 million in proceeds to carry put our aggressive engineering, drilling and environmental programs; but also provides a major endorsement of the Valentine Lake project by one of the best known and regarded public royalty companies.
-- The ongoing 2019 Marathon Deposit infill drilling campaign continues to focus on increasing both measured and indicated as well as inferred resources at what is already the largest resource in the Valentine Lake Gold Camp. The results of this infill drilling continue to validate the mineralization boundary in the block model as well as the lateral continuity of the high-grade mineralized zones.
-- Advanced metallurgical testing being done by SGS of material from both the Marathon and Leprechaun Deposits is continuing with focus on optimizing both mill and heap leach recoveries which we expect completion in Q2.
-- A Project Description is being prepared for submission to the Federal and Provincial regulators, a key step in the overall regulatory approvals process which we expect completion in Q2.
Marathon Gold Corporation ("Marathon" or the "Company") (TSX: MOZ) is pleased to announce the continuing excellent results from infill drill holes which were strategically located between existing, strongly mineralized drill holes in the open pit portion of the Marathon Deposit (Table 1, Figures 1 and 2). The drill holes succeeded in intersecting strongly mineralized, en-echelon stacked QTP-Au veining with thick intervals of higher-grade gold intercepts. The intent of the infill drilling program is two-fold; first, to further confirm Marathon's geological model by demonstrating the extensive lateral continuity of the QTP-Au veining into adjacent drill holes both along and across a more than 140 meter strike that has been infill drill tested so far; and second, to continue to upgrade Inferred resource material into the Measured and Indicated resource categories.
"The continued success of the infill drilling campaign at the Marathon Deposit is very important as we not only continue to build economic gold resources focused on open-pit mining of the Marathon Deposit, but also continue to further validate our geological model with each drill hole that intersects new VG and wide intervals of high-grade gold between previous adjacent drill holes", said Phillip Walford, President and CEO of Marathon Gold. "The very positive drilling results are expected to lead to a significant upgrade of Inferred to Measured and Indicated resources while also adding additional Inferred material. Assays are pending on more drill holes with wide intervals of VG-bearing QTP veining."
TABLE 1: Significant assay intervals, Marathon Deposit, Valentine Lake Gold Camp.
DDH Section From To Core True Gold g/t Gold g/t Length Thickness (cut)* (m) (m) MA-18-353 17120 35 38 3 2.9 1.19 139 142 3 2.9 1.43 MA-18-354 17240 79 87 8 7.6 1.70 131 137 6 5.7 2.71 including 131 133 2 1.9 3.73 164 195 31 29.5 1.17 including 181 183 2 1.9 3.19 MA-18-354 17240 139 142 3 2.7 0.93 161 164 3 2.7 3.36 MA-18-356 17260 57 65 8 7.6 1.42 90 93 3 2.9 8.42 165 168 3 2.9 1.60 174 178 4 3.8 1.49 MA-18-357 17260 93 106 13 12.4 12.49 9.43 including 93 100 7 6.7 22.55 16.86 149 154 5 4.8 3.56 159 174 15 14.3 3.