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Marathon Advances Resource Development with In-fill Drilling at the Leprechaun Gold Deposit, Valentine Lake, Newfoundland

^{Published on 2011-08-30 04:16:23 - Market Wire}
 

TORONTO, Aug. 30, 2011 /CNW/ - Marathon Gold Corporation ("Marathon" or the "Company") (TSX:MOZ) is pleased to announce the results of in-fill drilling at the Leprechaun Gold Deposit (Figure 1). The in-fill drill holes were focused in the northeast (VL-11-310, VL-11-311, VL-11-313, VL-11-316 and VL-11-318) and southwest (VL-11-309, VL-11-312, VL-11-314, VL-11-315 and VL-11-317) areas of the current Leprechaun Gold Deposit resource boundary (Figure 1). Each of the ten drill holes intersected significant zones of gold mineralization and confirmed the continuity of the mineralized zones along strike between adjacent sections within the Leprechaun Gold Deposit.

A total of 111 drill holes totaling 18,098m (72%) of Marathon's planned 25,000m 2011 drilling campaign have been completed to date.  It is expected remaining drilling will be completed during Q4, with summarized results to follow shortly thereafter. All grades in this release are uncut, and all thicknesses are estimated true thicknesses. The Valentine Lake Project, including the Leprechaun Gold Deposit, is a 50/50 joint venture between Marathon Gold Corporation and Mountain Lake Resources. Both companies are equal contributors to the 25,000m drilling program now underway where Marathon is the operator.

Phil Walford, Marathon President and CEO said: "Our 2011 drilling program at Leprechaun continues to provide good results. These in-fill drill holes show our expected continuity of mineralization along strike both in and between sections in the Deposit, and advance our expectation for increased resources. The 2011 drill program remains on schedule for completion during October, which should enable us to keep our target of the first open pit NI 43-101 compliant resource at the Leprechaun Gold Deposit by year end."

Highlights:

• In-fill drill holes in the northeast, with near surface intercepts of up to 1.88 g/t Au over 32.3m as in VL-11-310, confirmed the predicted continuity of mineralization along strike between adjacent sections in the Deposit.
  
  
• Drill hole VL-11-313 proved down-dip expansion of the Deposit with high grade footwall intersection of 6.53 g/t Au over 2.4m including 22.63 g/t Au over 0.6m.
  
  
• In-fill drill holes in the southwest, with intercepts of up to 2.7 g/t Au over 12.8m including 10.69 g/t Au over 2.6m, confirmed the predicted continuity of mineralization along strike between adjacent sections in the Deposit.

TABLE 1: Significant Assay Intervals for the Leprechaun Gold Deposit

*Denotes: MZ - main zone, HW - hanging wall zone, and FW - footwall zone

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 update 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 Gold 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.

About the Valentine Lake Joint Venture
The Valentine Lake Joint Venture 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 Project, 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 Joint Venture, and the companies have agreed to jointly fund a $6 million budget in 2011 that includes a planned 25,000 meters of drilling.

Leprechaun Gold Deposit
The Leprechaun Gold Deposit has a (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.  This 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 Measured and Indicated 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.

About Marathon Gold Corporation

Marathon Gold Corporation is one of Canada's newest gold resource development companies, with projects located in the mining friendly province of Newfoundland and Labrador together with a project in the prolific Coeur d'Alene Mining District of Idaho.  Marathon has a project pipeline consisting of early stage exploration to advanced resource development projects. 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 exploration and resource development has an established record of delivering rapid growth.  For more information visit: [ www.marathon-gold.com ]

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
Except for statements of historical fact relating to Marathon Gold, 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'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 or results otherwise.