Marathon Gold Announces Filing of Draft EA Report by Federal Regulator for the Valentine Gold Project

TORONTO, May 26, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Marathon Gold Corporation (“Marathon” or the “Company”; TSX: MOZ) is pleased to announce that a draft Environmental Assessment Report (the “EA Report”) has been filed by the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (“IAAC”) for the Valentine Gold Project (the “Project”). The draft EA Report, and accompanying draft conditions for EA release, will be available for 30 days for public review and comment. At the conclusion of this period, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada (the “Minister”) will be in a position to make a Decision Statement on the acceptability of the Project for development. A positive Decision Statement will mark the completion of the federal EA. A parallel provincial EA concluded successfully on March 17, 2022, with approval of the Project by the Cabinet of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador (“NL”).

Of note, the draft EA Report concludes that the Project is not likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects, taking into account the implementation of appropriate mitigation measures. The Minister’s agreement with this finding will mean that the Minister is able to make a Decision Statement without reference to the federal Cabinet (Governor in Council).

Background to Today’s News

The Valentine Gold Project is subject to regulation under the environmental protection regimes of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012 and the NL Environmental Protection Act. Marathon filed a project description with both IAAC and the NL Department of Environment and Climate Change on April 5, 2019, which was accepted into the formal EA process on April 16, 2019. The Project’s Environmental Impact Statement (the “EIS”) was filed on September 29, 2020.

The federal and provincial EA processes provide for the technical review of the EIS by multiple government agencies and the opportunity for public comment. Following regulatory and public review, federal Information Requirements (“IRs”) and provincial review comments were issued to Marathon, commencing in February 2021. The IRs and review comments are a routine part of the EA process, reflecting requested clarifications or information on various aspects of the EIS received from regulators, Indigenous groups, the public, and other stakeholders.