Marathon's infill results also included 26.6m grading 3.63g/t gold within a broader 198.6m at 1.36g/t from 4m; and 210m at 1.32g/t from 6m.

President and CEO Phillip Walford described the results as "highly successful" and said Marathon had intersected very wide intervals of continuous good grades down through the open pit and into the underground depths of the Main Zone corridor.

"The company is excited to be moving forward into the next phase in developing the Valentine gold camp while continuing to explore and expand gold resources," he said.

The resource update is expected in early November and will form the basis of a preliminary economic assessment, due before June 2018.

The project in Newfoundland already has a measured and indicated resource of 1.38Moz at 1.91g/t and 766,500oz at 2.24g/t inferred.

Marathon is attracting attention and RBC recently initiated coverage with an "outperform" rating and price target of C$1.70.

Shares in the company rose 1c intra-day but closed 2c lower on Friday at $1.03.