Marathon Hits 3.20 g/t over 14.0 meters (TT) -- More Drill News to Come with $8 Million Financing, Valentine Lake Gold Camp

TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - November 21, 2016) - Marathon Gold Corp. ("Marathon" or the "Company") (TSX: MOZ) announces further positive results from the fall drilling at the Marathon Deposit, Valentine Gold Camp. Deep drill holes MA-16-130 and MA-16-136, at the current east and west extremities respectively of the resource pit shell, succeeded in intersecting significant intervals of high-grade gold at depth and increasing the overall strike length of the deeper mineralized zone to more than 350 meters (Figure 1). Drill holes MA-16-133 and MA-16-135 intersected shallower levels of good mineralization along the SW end of the 2015 resource pit shell while step-out drill holes MA-16-131 and MA-16-132 pushed SW along strike to intersect good grades at shallow depths. The 50-100-meter-wide true thickness (TT) sub-vertical mineralized corridor of the Marathon Deposit is open along strike and now extends to depth in excess of 350 meters. Drilling remains focused on developing open-pit and underground resources at the Marathon Deposit with two drills working around the clock in advance of an anticipated 2017 resource update.

Highlights (true thickness):

• Best intercepts in deeper drill holes MA-16-130 and MA-16-136 included 3.20 g/t Au over 14.0 meters with 7.98 g/t Au over 3.5 meters as well as 4.10 g/t Au over 2.1 meters and 3.54 g/t Au over 2.8 meters in MA-16-136, and 3.63 g/t Au over 7.2 meters with 6.93 g/t Au over 2.6 meters in MA-16-130. These new intercepts occur 100 meters down-dip from previously drilling. The deeper higher-grade mineralized zone, intersected in previously released drill holes MA-16-101, 107, 111, 112, 113, 116, 127, 128 and MA-15-047 and 032, now has a strike length in excess of 350 meters (Figure 1).
  

• Shallow drill holes collared southwest of the 2015 resource pit shell intersected significant gold intervals with MA-16-135 intersecting 2.44 g/t Au over 7.0 meters including 9.47 g/t Au over 1.4 meters, MA-16-133 intersecting 3.84 g/t Au over 2.8 meters and 2.44 g/t Au over 2.1 meters, and MA-16-132 intersecting 2.56 g/t Au over 2.1 meters and 2.78 g/t Au over 2.1 meters.

• The Marathon Deposit alteration and mineralized corridor, including the 2015 open pit resource shell, extends for at least 1.7 kilometers (Figure 1). Current ongoing drilling at the Marathon Deposit is focused on southwest expansion of the open pit resource shell and tracing higher grade mineralization to depth.

• An expanded 35,000-meter drill program is underway with the goal of expanding gold resources at the Leprechaun, Sprite, Marathon and Victory Deposits as well as developing new resources at other exploration targets throughout the Valentine Gold Camp.

"The recent $8 million flow through financing combined with the $3 million already in the treasury has put Marathon in a strong position to aggressively drill for resource expansion on the Valentine Lake property for the remainder of this year and 2017. We are delighted by the consistent growth of both the higher-grade underground mineralized corridor as well as shallower open-pit mineralization as we push southward from the 2015 Marathon Deposit resource pit shell," said Phillip Walford, President and CEO of Marathon. Also we now have the finances to test the underground potential of the Leprechaun Deposit in the coming year. "Two drills continue working round-the-clock at the Marathon Deposit as we focus on maximizing the 2017 resource update planned for the second quarter of 2017."

TABLE 1: Significant fire assay intervals from drill holes MA-16-130, MA-16-131, MA-16-132, MA-16-133, MA-16-135 and MA-16-136, 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