Marathon PGM: Development Plans for Geordie Lake Deposit

TORONTO , Oct. 7 /CNW/ - Marathon PGM Corporation ("Marathon" or "the Company", MAR-TSX) is pleased to announce results of recently completed work and plans for exploration and development work of the Geordie Lake deposit, located 14km northwest of the town of Marathon, Ontario.

Development and expansion of the Geordie Lake deposit has the potential to extend the projected operational mine life of the Marathon Project well beyond the current projected 10 years. The combined measured and indicated resource for the Marathon and the Geordie Lake deposits currently exceeds 150 million tonnes.

    
    Highlights

    -   current Geordie Lake (measured and indicated) in-pit resource (M+I) -
        25.98 million tonnes @ 0.34 % Cu, 0.55 g/t Pd, 0.034 g/t Pt,
        0.06 g/t Au and 2.3 g/t Ag
    -   contained metals (measured and indicated) - 531,000 oz PGM+Au,
        195.7 million lb Cu, 1.94 million oz Ag
    -   current resource estimate was based on lower metal prices (2002)
    -   planned exploration and development work to commence in early 2010
    -   additional zones discovered to the west and east of the Geordie Lake
        deposit
    

Phillip Walford , President and CEO of Marathon commented "We successfully expanded the Marathon deposit from 27 million tonnes to over 120 million tonnes in less than 5 years. As our growth continues, it's natural that we start development plans to make Geordie Lake an additional source of ore. This is an important step for us because it will expand the operational mining life."

Geordie Lake: Generalized Geology and Mineralization

Multiple layers of PGM-Cu mineralization are hosted within the north trending Geordie Lake gabbro. Mineralized layers range in thickness from 4 to 62 m, dip to the west at approximately 45 degrees and can be traced over a strike length of 1,800 m. The deposit is open down dip to the west and along strike to the north.

Work Completed in 2009

In 2009 Marathon geologists re-logged all Geordie Lake drill holes, revised the geological cross sections and subsequently developed a refined interpretation of the deposit. Compilation work outlined a near-surface, higher grade zone of mineralization which is traceable over 1,200 m. Marathon believes there is exceptional potential to rapidly expand this high-grade zone with increased drilling density.

Beyond the drill defined limits of the Geordie Lake deposit, 2 other areas of mineralization have been identified. At the northern end of the deposit, an area of mineralization to the east could represent a parallel layer of mineralization, as it is parallel to the Geordie Lake trend and PGM-Cu mineralization was intersected in a single hole but never followed up. Two kilometers north of the Geordie Lake deposit, samples gathered from prospecting revealed anomalous PGM-Cu mineralization (up to 0.64%Cu and 0.15 g/t PGM+Au).

Discovery of these new zones provides potential for finding additional resources. Historically, the main focus was the Geordie Lake deposit and little effort was given to explore outside the known Geordie Lake deposit.

To view a cross section of the Geordie Lake deposit, please click on http://www.marathonpgm.com/newsmaps/2009-24.jpg

    
    Selected Historical Drilling Results: Geordie Lake Deposit
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Total
                                True                     PGM and
              From      To     Width    Pd     Pt     Au      Au    Ag    Cu
    Hole       (m)      (m)     (m)    (g/t)  (g/t)  (g/t)  (g/t) (g/t)   (%)
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    G-00-08  158.01   169.20   11.19   1.02   0.05   0.07   1.13  3.68   0.59
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    G-01-01  178.35   199.70   21.35   1.03   0.07   0.08   1.17  2.95   0.50
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    G-01-03  117.38   132.62   15.24   0.77   0.04   0.06   0.88  4.17   0.68
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    G-01-07  126.52   137.55   11.03   1.13   0.06   0.09   1.28  6.50   0.93
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    G-01-10   38.41    47.56    9.15   1.26   0.09   0.08   1.43  7.14   0.76
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    G-01-12  228.66   252.52   23.86   0.94   0.04   0.06   1.04  4.31   0.75
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    G-01-13  217.62   266.01   48.39   0.89   0.07   0.13   1.09  2.79   0.53
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    G-02-03  189.11   201.77   12.66   1.20   0.10   0.09   1.39  4.46   0.80
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    G-02-04  194.81   213.08   18.27   1.03   0.07   0.07   1.16  3.92   0.54
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    

Planned Work for 2010

Marathon believes there is good potential to expand the resource through a planned program of prospecting, channel sampling and strategically planned infill and step-out drilling. Exploration plans for 2010 will focus on drilling down-dip and along-strike in order to expand the current resource.

The mineral resources in this press release were estimated using the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves, Definitions and Guidelines prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions and adopted by CIM Council December 11, 2005 .

David Good , P.Geo., VP of Exploration is Marathon's Qualified Person in compliance with National Instrument 43-101 with respect to this release. Dr. Good has reviewed the contents for accuracy and has approved this press release on behalf of Marathon.

About Marathon PGM Corporation:

Marathon PGM Corporation is presently optimizing an earlier definitive feasibility study on the Marathon PGM-Cu deposit, which is expected to be completed in Q4. Marathon is also 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 updated in-pit M&I resource contains 2.58 million ounces of Pd, 769,000 ounces of Pt, 280,000 ounces of Au, 625 million lbs of Cu and 5.5 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.

%SEDAR: 00020574E

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