Marathon Deposit Continues to Deliver Down Dip With 3.24 g/t Au Over 17.6 Meters (TT) and 2.05 g/t Over 13.3 Meters (TT)

TORONTO, ON --(Marketwired - September 06, 2016) - Marathon Gold Corp. ("Marathon" or the "Company") (TSX: MOZ) today announces continued positive results from the ongoing drilling campaign at the Marathon Deposit, Valentine Gold Camp. New drill holes MA-16-112 and MA-16-113 have continued to intercept wide intervals of good-grade gold mineralization for up to 70 meters down-dip of previous drilling on the Marathon Deposit (Figure 1). These new drill holes further confirm the continuity of the 50-100 meter wide (TT) mineralized corridor of the Marathon Deposit that is currently open both along strike and extends to depth in excess of 250 meters. Previously reported drill holes MA-16-107, MA-16-101, MA-16-111 and extended drill holes MA-15-032, MA-15-039 and MA-15-047 have all intersected similar wide intervals of higher grade gold at depth (Figure 1, PR's June 21, 2016, July 6, 2016, July 28, 2016 and August 9, 2016). A new gold showing with extensional QTP veining, located 1km NW from the Valentine Lake thrust fault, has returned grab samples ranging up to 6.65 g/t Au and 5.36 g/t Au.

Highlights (true thickness):

• Best intercepts in MA-16-112 included 3.24 g/t Au over 17.6 meters with 5.85 g/t over 2.0 meters, 7.60 g/t over 2.6 meters, and 6.40 g/t Au over 2.0 meters; 1.60 g/t Au over 22.8 meters with 4.93 g/t Au over 2.0 meters and 10.88 g/t Au over 0.7 meters; and 2.59 g/t Au over 6.50 meters with 17.8 g/t Au over 1.3 meters.
• Best intercepts in MA-16-113 included 2.05 g/t Au over 13.3 meters with 6.75 g/t over 2.1 meters; 1.68 g/t Au over 21.7 meters with 8.92 g/t Au over 0.7 meters, 6.42 g/t Au over 2.1 meters and 6.24 g/t Au over 0.7 meters; and 6.04 g/t Au over 4.9 meters.
• Deeper penetrating new drill holes MA-16-112 and MA-16-113, along with recently released deeper drill holes MA-16-101, MA-16-107, MA-16-111 and extended drill holes MA-15-032, MA-15-039 and MA-16-047; define a more than 210 meters in strike length, sub vertical mineralized corridor that ranges from 50 to 100 meters in width, and extends to depth beyond 250 meters. This mineralized corridor of the Marathon Deposit remains open both along strike and to depth with gold grades increasing at deeper levels within the corridor.
• The total strike length of the alteration and mineralized corridor, including the spring 2015 Marathon Deposit 450 meter in strike length open pit resource shell, now extends for at least 1.7 kilometers (Figure 1). The highest priority drilling at the Marathon Deposit continues to focus on expanding the open pit resource shell to the southwest along strike of the current Marathon Deposit resource pit shell as well as northwest into the hanging wall of the deposit.
• New metallurgical results for the Marathon Deposit (August 25, 2016 news release) returned up to 98.1% gold recovery for the Marathon deposit ore using combined gravity separation and CIL flotation. These results are similar to the gold recoveries of the Leprechaun Deposit. Metallurgical work is continuing on schedule with encouraging preliminary column testing results for heap leach viability of both the Leprechaun and Marathon Deposits.
• A new gold showing, located 1000 meters NW from the Valentine Lake Thrust Fault and 750 meters north of the Sprite Deposit area, has returned grab samples ranging up to 6.65 g/t Au, 5.36 g/t Au, 3.44 g/t Au and 2.15 g/t Au. This exciting new gold showing consists of SW dipping extensional QTP veins with coarse cubic pyrite. Trenching and drilling are planned for this new showing.

"Our ongoing drilling program at the Marathon Deposit continues to return excellent results with new intersections of wide intervals with good gold grades. The deeper drilling proves the Marathon deposit is not only open in all directions but also contains increased gold grades with depth", said Phillip Walford, President and CEO of Marathon. The excellent metallurgical results for the Marathon Deposit along with the discovery of a new gold showing located up to 1000 meters into the hanging wall away from the Valentine Lake Thrust Fault is all exciting news as we move the Valentine Gold Camp towards a PEA. Our current drilling on the Marathon Deposit is focused on developing potential open pit resources to the south west of the 2015 resource pit shell."

TABLE 1: Significant assay intervals from drill holes MA-16-112 and MA-16-113, Marathon Gold Deposit, Valentine Lake Gold Camp.

All of the samples were fire assayed at Eastern Analytical Laboratory Ltd., in Springdale, Newfoundland.

Marathon Gold Corp. acknowledges the financial support of the JEA Program, Department of Natural Resources, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Research and Development Corporation of Newfoundland and Labrador has granted approximately 75% of the costs of the current metallurgical program to Marathon Gold and we appreciate this support.

Sherry Dunsworth, M.Sc., P. Geo., VP of Exploration, Marathon's Qualified Person, has reviewed the contents for accuracy and has approved this press release on behalf of Marathon.

About Marathon Gold Corporation

Marathon is a Toronto based gold resource company focused on its 100% owned Valentine Gold Camp located in central Newfoundland. The Valentine Gold Camp currently hosts four near-surface, mainly pit-shell constrained, gold resources totaling 1,060,100 oz. gold at 2.20 g/t (Measured & Indicated) and 200,000 oz. gold at 2.85 g/t (Inferred), (April 2015). These resources, open along strike and to depth, cover less than 10% of the total length of the highly prospective Valentine Lake Thrust Fault and associated splay faults which host the majority of the gold mineralization within the property. For more information please visit www.marathon-gold.com.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

Except for statements of historical fact relating to Marathon Gold Corp., 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 Corp.'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.

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Contact

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