Marathon Permitting On Track, Formal Regulatory Review Commenced

TORONTO, March 8 /CNW/ - Marathon PGM Corporation (MAR-TSX) ("Marathon" or "the Company") reports that the formal consultation process for the Marathon PGM-Cu Project ("Marathon Project") is now underway. The first two public presentation sessions were held during the first week of March in the Town of Marathon and at the Pic River First Nation. The Company has been engaged in consultation with various local stakeholders and First Nations since 2004.

Highlights:

    
    -   all of the field work required for the environmental assessment has
        been completed
    -   a formal project description has been submitted to CEAA, triggering a
        regulatory review process of approximately 21 months
    -   the permitting process expected to be complete in the first half of
        2012
    -   the Marathon Project will provide several hundred jobs during
        construction and production
    

Permitting Process - Community Meetings

Both public presentation sessions were advertised publicly through local and regional media during February. These sessions consisted of information displays and detailed presentations followed by interactive discussions with project representatives.

Approximately 80 members of the Pic River First Nation community (one third of the resident population) attended the event on March 1, to gain a better understanding of proposed development located in their traditional territory. Over 70 residents of the Town of Marathon attended the second open house, which was held on March 2.

"Marathon's presentations were very well received by each of the local communities," said Phillip Walford, President and CEO. "People from the Pic River First Nation found the presentation informative and are interested to seek further details regarding the development, environmental protection options and potential economic opportunities. We look forward to further proactive and detailed working sessions with Pic River First Nation as we continue to develop an Impacts and Benefits Agreement".

Attendees from Town of Marathon were supportive of the development of the Project. The new mine development will provide long-term employment opportunities to counter the recent closure of the pulp mill. The community provided positive feedback regarding the Company's efforts to advance the development and environmental protection options.

Baseline environmental data provided at the presentation has been collected by the company since 2001. The Project Description was submitted on March 5th to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA). This submission triggers the formal regulatory review processes for the project.

Marathon has been advised by CEAA and Major Projects Management Office that the process should be completed with final approval from the Federal Government within 21 months. Provincial permits and approvals are expected to be granted within three months of completing the federal process.

Phillip Walford, P.Geo., President and CEO, is Marathon's Qualified Person in compliance with National Instrument 43-101 with respect to this release. Mr. Walford has reviewed the contents for accuracy and has approved this press release on behalf of Marathon.

About Marathon PGM Corporation:

Marathon is exploring resource development potential in the immediate vicinity of the Marathon deposit to expand mine life of the planned large tonnage, open pit mining operation. The Marathon deposit is one of the largest PGM-Cu reserves in Canada and is expected to grow with development of additional nearby resources. Marathon's optimized P+P reserve of 91.45 million tonnes grading 0.832 g/t Pd, 0.237 g/t Pt, 0.085 g/t Au, 0.247% Cu and 1.44 g/t Ag, contains 2.44 million ounces of Pd, 696,000 ounces of Pt, 251,000 ounces of Au, 497 million lbs of Cu and 4.23 million ounces of Ag. Marathon also has development and exploration stage properties in southeastern Manitoba and western Newfoundland, respectively. Marathon's management plans to build on its experience through the advancement of its properties and by examining other strategic opportunities.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

Except for statements of historical fact relating to Marathon, 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 Management's Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2008.

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.

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For further information: David Leng, P.Geo:., Tel: [phone], Fax: [phone], [email protected]