Nautilus Reports High Grade Gold-silver-zinc Mineralization

Nautilus Minerals Inc. has encountered high-grade gold-silver-zinc mineralization from the Solwara 2 and Solwara 3 prospects in its 100-per-cent-owned exploration licence EL 1383 within territorial waters of Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Sixty-eight surface samples collected on EL 1383 averaged 10.3 grams per tonne gold (Au), 22.1 per cent zinc (Zn) and 418 g/t silver (Ag).

SOLWARA PROJECT — SUMMARY SAMPLING RESULTS

Prospect Samples Au Ag Zn Pb Cu

(n) ppm ppm % % %

Solwara 2 37 6.2 226 22.8 0.2 1.3

Solwara 3 26 15.4 488 22.4 1.1 1.3

NE areas 5 13.6 1,476 14.9 2.6 0.3

— —- —– —- — —

Average 68 10.3 418 22.1 0.7 1.2

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David Heydon, chief executive officer of Nautilus, comments: “The sampling of high-grade gold-zinc mineralization at the Solwara 2 and 3 prospects confirms the prospectivity of Nautilus’s ground holding in PNG. We are particularly encouraged with the extent and number of ‘chimney’ fields discovered during the brief 10-day reconnaissance survey. Clearly we have several high-grade Au, Ag and Zn mineralized systems within EL 1383 requiring detailed follow-up.” Mr. Heydon says that, “Nautilus now has the potential to broaden its commodity base with the addition of zinc and silver to its existing gold and copper portfolio.”

Solwara 2 is located 210 kilometres west-northwest of the Solwara 1 high-grade copper-gold project, where as previously reported, 88 surface sulphide samples averaged 15.5 g/t Au, 10.8 per cent Cu. The Solwara 2 prospect comprises two northeast-trending fields containing sphalerite-rich sulphide chimneys; each field approximately 250 metres long and 30 metres to 40 metres wide. Solwara 3 is located one kilometre northeast of Solwara 2 and comprises a further 250-metre by 40-metre field containing sphalerite-rich sulphide chimneys. Additional reconnaissance sampling at two locations, approximately two kilometres and 10 kilometres to the northeast of Solwara 3, also indicates potential for additional high-grade Au, Ag and Zn mineralized systems. The Solwara 2 and 3 areas are hosted by pillow basalts along the central Manus Ridge of the Manus Back Arc basin. EL 1383 covers 2,546 square kilometres of the central Manus Ridge and this 10-day reconnaissance survey only covered 10 square kilometres of this major structural feature.

Sampling was completed during 10 days of a collaborative exploration project with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution using the Scripps Institute Vessel Melville to deploy the remote operated vehicle “Jason” and the autonomous underwater vehicle “ABE.” In total 68 samples were collected by Jason and 10 square kilometres of detailed bathymetric and geophysical data were collected by ABE. Mr. Heydon commented, “In addition to the above survey, the vessel has just completed a brief survey of a prospective area between Solwara 1 and Solwara 2 and samples have been offloaded and sent to Australia for analysis.”

Sample custodianship

All sampling, sample handling and analysis were completed under the supervision of Nautilus personnel. Sampling was carried out aboard the vessel MV Melville, whilst at sea. All subsamples were placed into prenumbered calico bags. The bagged samples were then subsequently placed into larger polyweave bags. The polyweave bags were sealed with security tags, which were then signed by the supervising geologist on site at the time.

Laboratory analysis

All analyses were carried out by ALS Laboratory Group in Brisbane, Australia. ALS operates quality systems based on international standards ISO/IEC17025:1999 “General requirements for the competence of calibration and testing laboratories” and ISO9001:2000 “Quality Management Systems — Requirements.”

QA/QC (quality assurance/quality control)

External certified geochemical reference materials prepared by Geostats Pty. Ltd., of Perth, Western Australia, and independently tested, and field duplicate samples were interspersed at regular intervals between the 68 samples submitted for analysis. These reference materials comprised standards, with known and statistically tested concentrations of the major base and precious metals, and blanks, with extremely low concentrations of the major base and precious metals. Standards or blanks were submitted approximately every 10th sample. This frequency resulted in approximately 10 per cent of all samples submitted consisting of standards and blanks. Evaluation of these standards and blanks indicates that the quality of the analyses are within acceptable limits.

Qualified person

These results have been compiled under the supervision of Anthony O’Sullivan, chief operating officer of Nautilus. Mr. O’Sullivan is a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, has 18 years experience in mining and exploration geology, and is a qualified person as defined under National Instrument 43-101. He consents to his name being used in this release.