Marathon Gold Intersects 2.09 g/t over 65.6m True Thickness including 16.49g/t Au over 3.2m at the Leprechaun Gold Deposit
TORONTO, June 29, 2011 /CNW/ --
TORONTO, June 29, 2011 /CNW/ - Marathon Gold Corporation ('Marathon' or 'the Company') (MOZ-TSX) is pleased to announce today the intersection of a wide interval of gold
mineralization in the northeast section of the Leprechaun Gold Deposit.
Drill hole VL-11-288 intersected 2.09 g/t Au over 65.6m including
16.49g/t Au over 3.2m and 76.0 g/t over 0.8m (Figure - SZ). Additional new gold mineralization was intersected in VL-11-287 with
9.38 g/t Au over 7.2m including 16.68 g/t Au over 4m and in VL-11-289
with 2.59 g/t Au over 8.8m.
All grades in this release are uncut and all thicknesses quoted are
estimated true thicknesses. The Valentine Lake Project is a 50/50
joint-venture between Marathon and Mountain Lake. Both Companies are
equal contributors to the 2011 25,000m drilling program now underway.
'The intersection of this wide zone of high grade mineralization at the
Leprechaun Gold Deposit is an excellent start to our summer exploration
program despite a three-week delay due to poor spring weather. The new
mineralization extends 40 meters down-dip and over 50 meters along
strike from previous drilling results and will result in an important
expansion of the deposit,' said Phillip Walford, President and CEO of
Marathon Gold Corporation.
Highlights:
-- The wide gold intersection of 2.09 g/t Au over 65.6m with 16.49
g/t Au over 3.2m and 76.0 g/t Au over 0.8m in VL-11-288
confirms the potential for intersecting additional wide zones
of high grade gold mineralization at depth within the
Leprechaun Gold Deposit.
-- The new mineralization in VL-11-287 with 9.38 g/t Au over 7.2m
including 16.68 g/t Au over 4m and in VL-11-289 with 2.59 g/t
Au over 8.8m including 6.00 g/t Au over 2.4m confirms the along
strike continuity of high-grade gold mineralization.
-- The new drilling results extend the zone of gold mineralization
more than 40m down dip from previous drilling and will expand
the resource.
-- VL-11-285 and VL-11-286 are drilled through a zone of
dominantly mafic dykes that cut eastward at about the 1550 E
section across the Leprechaun Gold Deposit. Gold mineralization
resumes on the other side of the dyke.
-- The second rig drilling at the SW end of the current resource
limits of the Leprechaun Gold deposit has intersected typical
quartz-tourmaline-pyrite-gold mineralization with assays
pending over the next two weeks.
-- A total 73 drill holes totalling 10,721m (42%) of our planned
25,000m 2011 drilling campaign have been completed to date for
the Valentine Lake Property. The majority of those holes have
been focussed on the expansion of the Leprechaun resource and
the remaining drilling will be on definition and expansion of
the Leprechaun deposit.
TABLE 1: Significant Assay Intervals for the Leprechaun Gold Deposit
_____________________________________________________________________
| DDH |Section|Zone*|From (m)|To (m)|Core Width |TT (m)|Gold (g/t)|
| | | | | | (m) | | |
|_________|_______|_____|________|______|___________|______|__________|
|VL-11-286|10537.5| HW | 103 | 105 | 2 | 2 | 1.50 |
|_________|_______|_____|________|______|___________|______|__________|
|VL-11-287|10512.5| HW | 29 | 32 | 3 | 3 | 0.76 |
|_________|_______|_____|________|______|___________|______|__________|
|VL-11-287|10512.5| MZ | 162 | 168 | 6 | 4.8 | 2.86 |
|_________|_______|_____|________|______|___________|______|__________|
|including|10512.5| MZ | 162 | 163 | 1 | 0.8 | 13.52 |
|_________|_______|_____|________|______|___________|______|__________|
|VL-11-287|10512.5| MZ | 195 | 198 | 3 | 2.4 | 1.08 |
|_________|_______|_____|________|______|___________|______|__________|
|VL-11-287|10512.5| MZ | 241 | 250 | 9 | 7.2 | 9.38 |
|_________|_______|_____|________|______|___________|______|__________|
|including|10512.5| MZ | 243 | 248 | 5 | 4 | 16.68 |
|_________|_______|_____|________|______|___________|______|__________|
|VL-11-287|10512.5| FW | 273 | 278 | 5 | 3.5 | 2.48 |
|_________|_______|_____|________|______|___________|______|__________|
|VL-11-288| 10500 | HW | 40 | 48 | 8 | 8 | 0.56 |
|_________|_______|_____|________|______|___________|______|__________|
|VL-11-288| 10500 | MZ | 155 | 237 | 82 | 65.6 | 2.09 |
|_________|_______|_____|________|______|___________|______|__________|
|including| 10500 | MZ | 182 | 186 | 4 | 3.2 | 16.50 |
|_________|_______|_____|________|______|___________|______|__________|
|including| 10500 | MZ | 229 | 237 | 8 | 6.4 | 9.66 |
|_________|_______|_____|________|______|___________|______|__________|
|including| 10500 | MZ | 229 | 230 | 1 | 0.8 | 76.00 |
|_________|_______|_____|________|______|___________|______|__________|
|VL-11-288| 10500 | MZ | 267 | 272 | 5 | 4 | 3.78 |
|_________|_______|_____|________|______|___________|______|__________|
|VL-11-288| 10500 | FW | 300 | 302 | 2 | 1.6 | 6.42 |
|_________|_______|_____|________|______|___________|______|__________|
|VL-11-289|10487.5| HW | 50 | 54 | 4 | 4 | 0.55 |
|_________|_______|_____|________|______|___________|______|__________|
|VL-11-289|10487.5| MZ | 179 | 182 | 3 | 2.4 | 2.37 |
|_________|_______|_____|________|______|___________|______|__________|
|VL-11-289|10487.5| MZ | 207 | 218 | 11 | 8.8 | 2.59 |
|_________|_______|_____|________|______|___________|______|__________|
|including|10487.5| MZ | 207 | 210 | 3 | 2.4 | 6.00 |
|_________|_______|_____|________|______|___________|______|__________|
|VL-11-289|10487.5| MZ | 230 | 234 | 4 | 3.2 | 1.52 |
|_________|_______|_____|________|______|___________|______|__________|
*Denotes: HW - hanging wall zone, MZ - main zone, FW - footwall zone
-- A site visit by Marathon Gold Corporation's Board of Directors
occurred on June 22, 2010 (photos on website) with all members
flying into the Valentine Lake Property to examine the
mineralized core, tour the new camp facility, and hold a board
meeting
.
All of the samples were analyzed at Eastern Analytical Laboratory Ltd.,
in Springdale, Newfoundland. Samples were assayed using lead collection
fire assay with AA (atomic absorption) finish. Results from fire assay
are used for drill hole planning only. Assay results for the future
updates of the December, 2010 resource will be determined by an ongoing
metallic screening process. Due to the coarse nature of the gold at the
Leprechaun Deposit, the metallic screening method is used on
economically important intersections using standard fire assay
techniques. The reported values in this release are fire assay results.
A revised resource for the Leprechaun deposit was planned for the second
quarter of 2011. The joint-venture partners have decided to defer this
resource estimation until the current drilling program has been
completed and an open pit resource can be estimated. The open pit
resource will form the basis of the Preliminary Economic Assessment
('PEA') scheduled for release in the first half of 2012.
About the Valentine Lake Joint Venture
The Valentine Lake Project is a 50/50 joint venture between Marathon
Gold and Mountain Lake. The Leprechaun Gold Deposit is situated at the
south-western end of the Valentine Lake Property and the Valentine East
Gold Zone is located 13 km along strike running in a north-easterly
direction. These gold occurrences form part of a 23 km long, highly
prospective gold-bearing mineralized corridor. Marathon is the operator
of the Project, and the companies have agreed to jointly fund a $6
million budget in 2011 that will include a planned 25,000 meters of
drilling.
Leprechaun Deposit
The Leprechaun Deposit has a new (News release, December 16, 2010) NI 43-101 compliant Measured and Indicated Resource of 3,284,000
tonnes grading 2.62 g/t gold for a total estimated 277,000 ounces of
gold. The inferred mineral resource is 4,409,000 tonnes grading 2.01
g/t gold for an estimated 285,000 ounces of gold. The new resource was
estimated using a 0.5 g/t gold minimum cut-off over a 3 meter minimum
width. The Leprechaun Gold Deposit is open at depth and along strike
with 74% of the current M & I ounces occurring within 150m of surface.
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.
Update on the Golden Chest Project
Drilling at Marathon's Golden Chest Mine in northern Idaho, which had
been delayed by three weeks due to poor spring weather conditions, is
now on schedule with two rigs currently drilling off the open pit
deposit in the southern part of the Idaho Property. The project is a JV
with New Jersey Mining as operator.
About Marathon Gold Corporation
Marathon Gold Corporation ('Marathon') is one of Canada's newest gold
resource development companies, with projects located in the mining
friendly province of Newfoundland and Labrador (Valentine) and now a
project in the prolific Coeur d'Alene Mining District of Idaho (Golden
Chest). Marathon has a project pipeline consisting of early stage
exploration to advanced resource development projects that may be built
into mineable reserves. Marathon is continually evaluating new gold
resource development projects of merit that are located within the
Americas. Marathon's focused and low-cost approach to resource
development and exploration has an established record of delivering
rapid growth. Marathon is the operator of the Valentine Lake Project
under the joint venture with Mountain Lake. For more information visit:
www.marathon-gold.com
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Marathon Gold Corporation
Phillip Walford, Pres., CEO
Tel: 1-416-987-0711
pwalford@marathon-gold.com
or
Joanna Longo
Tel: 1-416-238-1414 ext.233
jlongo@terrepartners.com