Marathon Gold announces exploration priorities during Valentine construction

Marathon Gold provides an overview of the Company’s exploration priorities during the upcoming two-year period of mine construction at the Valentine Gold Project located in central Newfoundland. The Project was approved for construction in September 2022 and early works commenced in October 2022. An Updated Feasibility Study was completed in December 2022, describing for the first time a 3-pit mine plan based on the Marathon, Leprechaun and Berry Deposits, with increased Mineral Reserves, an extended mine life, and a higher gold production profile. First ore is scheduled to be delivered to the mill in late 2024, with production ramp-up scheduled for the first quarter of 2025. As mine construction moves forward, Marathon intends to maintain a focus on exploration based on the following two priorities: delivering more ounces of mineable gold mineralization within the scope of the existing 3-pit mine plan, and making new discoveries leading to new Mineral Resources on the Valentine property outside the scope of the current mine plan. Exploration activities contemplated during the two-year period of 2023-2024 are as follows: A 70,000 metre Reverse Circulation drill program at the Leprechaun, Marathon and Berry Deposits, with the objective of developing a grade control model to support early mine production reconciliation and forecasting, and building on the positive experiences of the 2021 RC drill program; Discovery-oriented exploration at the new Eastern Arm and Western Peninsula prospecting areas, with a view to establishing potential trenching and or drill targets for new mineralized deposits; Updated geological and mineralization models for the Berry Deposit integrating 2022 drill results, including drill results still outstanding, with a focus on new mineralization potential within the current mining pit shell; Updated geological and mineralization models for the Victory Deposit integrating 2021-2022 drill results, including drill results still outstanding, with the objective of expanding the mineral resource potential of Victory beyond its current estimate; Reassessment of known mineralized showings at the Valentine Property, such as the Frank Zone, with additional diamond drilling as warranted; and Exploration results incorporated into annualized Mineral Resource updates.