Tremendous exploration and production potential behind world's first seafloor
copper/gold project A Canadian-based company with a market capitalisation of
approximately C$400 million, Nautilus is developing the world's first seafloor
copper/gold project at its Solwara 1 deposit in the Bismarck Sea of PNG. The
deposit, which sits on the seafloor at a water depth of some 1600 metres, boasts
a copper grade of approximately 7%, and more than 30% in some drill intercepts.
That compares with land-based copper mines, where the copper grade today
averages 0.6%. In addition, gold grades of well over 40 g/tonne have been
recorded at Solwara 1. Over the past 10 years, Nautilus has been working
steadily towards production, and now plans to begin extracting ore from the
deposit in 2013. The current plan is for the ore then to be transported to
treatment facilities for concentrating, and then smelting. Nautilus currently
expects to be producing approximately 1.3 million tonnes of ore per year. The
company recently completed a major exploration campaign aimed at increasing its
resource base, with the results to be announced later this year. All necessary
permits have been received, with the Mining Lease granted by the PNG Government
in January, following the Environmental Permit award in December 2009. The PNG
Government also has announced that it is fully behind the Solwara 1 project, and
it has indicated it intends to acquire a 30% interest in the Solwara 1 project,
contributing approximately $24 million for sunk costs to date, and funding its
share of future capital expenditure. Nautilus Minerals is a sponsor of the 8 th
annual Asia Mining Congress, happening in Singapore this coming 26 – 30 March.
Join them and many other project owners looking for Asian capital at the
conference. For more information, visit www.terrapinn.com/asiamining
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