Marlin Gold Commences Mining at the High Grade HS Zone and Intersects 9.73 g/t Gold Over 7.5 Meters at the La Trinidad Open Pit Heap Leach Gold Mine in Sinaloa, Mexico

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - May 18, 2016) -

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Marlin Gold Mining Ltd. ("Marlin" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:MLN) is extremely pleased to announce that it has commenced mining at the high grade HS Zone at its wholly owned La Trinidad mine in Sinaloa, Mexico ("La Trinidad"). The past one and a half years of commercial mining has been in preparation for this milestone, and over the course of the next weeks and months, La Trinidad will transition from being a high cost operation to become one of the lowest cost gold mines in the world.

Additionally, Marlin has completed an exploration program at La Trinidad. New drill intersections described below focused on the south side of the Taunus pit. Last year, Management deferred mining activities towards the south so that the Company could reach the high grade HS zone on an accelerated basis; as a result of this decision, the Company incurred $22.6 million in aggregate write-downs during 2015 as approximately 40,000 ounces were removed from the La Trinidad mine plan. Given the successful drill campaign on the south side of the deposit, the Company has recommenced mining on the south side of the Taunus pit. An updated life of mine plan is being engineered, and Management believes that there is a high likelihood that some, if not all, of the previously sustained write downs will be written back up over the course of 2016.

Drill Results Include:

				From		To		Interval		Gold
Hole #				(m)		(m)		(m)		(g/t)
15TRD08				90.0		100.4		10.4		1.79
15TRD09				82.3		90.6		8.3		1.21
16TRD10D				34.3		44.7		10.3		0.49
16TRD11B				33.5		40.0		6.5		0.46
16TRD12				0		10.0		10.0		0.84
		and		94.5		101.7		7.2		0.36
16TRD13				22.0		28.0		6.0		0.64
16TRD14				8.0		26.0		18.0		1.26
16TRD15				58.0		78.8		20.8		3.55
		including		69.7		78.9		9.2		6.29
16TRD17				117.6		124.5		6.9		3.98
16TRD18				96.6		104.0		7.4		0.45
16TRD19				28.0		34.0		6.0		0.68
16TRD20				0		26.9		26.9		1.20
16TRD22				47.9		59.0		11.0		6.91
		including		49.8		57.3		7.5		9.73

* Significant intersection defined as minimum gold assay of 0.3 gpt over minimum 6m interval with no more than 2m of internal dilution below 0.3 gpt.

Previously reported drill results from this program are:

Hole #	Zone	From (m)	To (m)	Interval (m)	Gold (g/t)	Comments
15TRD02	Eldorado	30	36	6	1.17
15TRD03	Eldorado	38	44	6	0.41
15TRD03	HS Zone	70	78	8	0.85
	and	84	112.4	28.4	3.45	Hole ended in 6.2 g/t gold
15TRD04	HS Zone	44	70	26	0.89
	and	74	101.7	27.7	3.08	Hole ended in 1.5 g/t gold
15TRD05	HS Zone	61	84	23	8.59
	including	62	68	6	18.1

Dr. Matthew D. Gray. C.P.G., of Resource Geosciences Incorporated, a Qualified Person under the definitions of CSA NI 43-101, implemented and supervised industry standard QA/QC protocols for the Taunas drill sampling program including insertion of duplicate and reference standard samples. Dr. Gray has verified the reliability of the drill sampling results reported in this press release.

Akiba Leisman, Chairman and CEO of Marlin, states that "it took a lot of hard work and money to get the Company to where it is now. I would like to congratulate the operating team led by Marlin's COO, Jesse Munoz for this accomplishment. As gold from the high grade HS Zone is recovered through our heap leach process and adsorption, desorption and recovery ("ADR") plant, the Company will begin to significantly increase its free cash flow. With the closing of the $13 million rights offering earlier this week, Marlin is in the strongest position in its history, and we aim to use this position of strength to grow our Company into a successful mid-tier gold producer".

About Marlin Gold

Marlin is a publicly-traded gold and silver mining company with properties located in Sinaloa, Mexico and Arizona, USA. Marlin's priority is to advance its properties toward commercial production and enhance shareholder value through the growth of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Sailfish Royalty Corp. The La Trinidad property in Sinaloa, Mexico, declared commercial production on November 1, 2014. A NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate and preliminary economic assessment for the La Trinidad mine and Commonwealth project can be found at www.sedar.com or at www.marlingold.com.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as the term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary statement regarding forward‐looking information

This news release contains 'forward-looking statements' within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by words such as the following: expects, plans, anticipates, believes, intends, estimates, projects, assumes, potential and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements also include reference to events or conditions that will, would, may, could or should occur, including, without limitation, Sailfish's entitlement to purchase certain gold production for a purchase price of US$15 million; Marlin's intention to defend itself against the legal demand for payment from its former mining contractor; and the anticipated expedition of permitting and expected savings in improved logistics at Commonwealth. These forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while based on management's expectations and considered reasonable at the time they are made, are inherently subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: uncertainties related to raising sufficient financing to fund planned work in a timely manner and on acceptable terms; changes in planned work resulting from logistical, technical or other factors; the possibility that results of work will not fulfill projections/expectations and realize the perceived potential of the Company's projects; uncertainties involved in the interpretation of drilling results and other tests and the estimation of gold resources; risk of accidents, equipment breakdowns and labour disputes or other unanticipated difficulties or interruptions; the possibility of environmental issues at the Company's projects; the possibility of cost overruns or unanticipated expenses in work programs; the need to obtain permits and comply with environmental laws and regulations and other government requirements; fluctuations in the price of gold; uncertainties as to whether the rights offering will be completed; risk of litigation; and other risks and uncertainties, including those described in the Company's public disclosure documents on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. As a result, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this release. Unless required by law, Marlin has no intention to and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.