Marathon Gold Corporation announced plans for continued work at its 100% owned Valentine Gold Camp, NL in the first quarter of 2016. A This work includes: a VLF survey focused on the 13km strike length coveringA the Sprite, Marathon and Victory Deposits and areas to the northeast of the Victory Deposit, following on from positive drilling results from Marathon's fall 2015 drilling program; ongoing ground geophysical investigations targeting high-potential overburden covered zones proximal to the Valentine Lake Thrust Fault; and a program of metallurgical test work focused on establishing potential recoveries from Marathon Deposit mineralization and the amenability of mineralization from the Leprechaun and Marathon Deposits to heap or vat leaching. Marathon is also continuing with baseline environmental studies at Valentine Lake, following completion of an ecological land classification report in 2015.

Exploration: Near surface drilling in late 2015 within the recently discovered Sprite NE area returned positive results with 5.78 g/t Au over 3.2 meters true width (TT) including 17.95 g/t Au over 0.8 meters in VL-15-612 and 1.11 g/t Au over 6.4 meters (TT) in VL-15-614, These short drill holes targeted a high grade quartz-tourmaline-pyrite vein found in 2015 and additional drilling is planned for this zone. A detailed ground magnetic survey covering the 13 km NE trending strike length covering the Sprite, Marathon and Victory Deposits and areas to the northeast of the Victory Deposit was completed in late 2015, and a ground VLF survey covering the same area will begin in mid-January to confirm if there is a conductivity pattern associated with gold mineralization. The results of both of these ground surveys will assist in characterizing the known gold deposits, provide additional exploration targets, and further delineate the location of targets beneath thick overburden of the Valentine Lake Thrust Fault and associated splay faults which focused the gold mineralizing fluids.

Metallurgy: Preparation is underway for a new metallurgical test work program starting in early 2016. This program will bench test the Marathon Deposit mineralization, which has never been tested before, for gravity, flotation and concentrate cyanide recovery. In addition, preliminary tests are planned on both Leprechaun and Marathon Deposit mineralization to determine whether a lower cost recovery method such as heap leach or vat leach can be applied to some or all of the mineralization.

Ore leaching would substantially reduce the capital costs of any potential operation at Valentine Lake by eliminating the need for a larger capacity mill. Heap leaching has been used successfully in Newfoundland at the Hope Brook Mine located to the south of Valentine Lake and other northern climate locations. Environmental: Marathon Gold Corporation is entering the sixth year of baseline environmental studies at Valentine Lake.

A This work follows on from an ecological land classification study (ELC) carried out by Stantec Consulting Inc. and completed in November 2015, which documented the ecological conditions within the property, to a level of detail appropriate for use in a preliminary economic assessment, focused on the characteristic ecozones, wildlife habitats, terrains, soils and vegetation. The ELC reflected the results of prior baseline studies carried out from 2011 to 2015 on waterfowl, fish, songbirds, and winter wildlife, in addition to ongoing water quality and hydrological monitoring programs. The results of this body of work have shown consistently that the animal species and ecological conditions found within the VLP are typical of the province and do not pose additional permitting risks to the project. This is very positive for future development.