Nautilus and Anglo American complete placement

ANGLO AMERICAN ACQUIRES COMMON SHARES IN NAUTILUS MINERALS INC

Anglo American PLC has, through

its wholly owned subsidiary Taurus Investments S.A., pursuant to a private

placement subscription agreement, acquired 8,333,334 common shares from

treasury in Nautilus Minerals Inc. The

shares represent approximately 11.46 per cent of the issued and outstanding common

shares of Nautilus after giving effect to the private placement and were

acquired for cash consideration of $25 million (U.S.). After giving effect to the

acquisition Anglo American and its subsidiaries exercise control or direction

over 8,333,334 shares representing approximately 11.46 per cent of the issued and

outstanding common shares of Nautilus.

Anglo American has acquired the shares for investment purposes, and has

signed a heads of agreement with Nautilus under which Anglo American may

assist Nautilus in its development of the Solwara project in Papua New Guinea

and other projects by providing technical support and personnel.

Anglo American has been granted an anti-dilution right that, on Oct. 31, 2008, will enable it to increase its interest to 8.9 per cent of the total

common shares of Nautilus if Anglo American’s percentage ownership in Nautilus

is diluted below that level prior to Oct. 31, 2008. The purchase price for

any additional common shares to be acquired by Anglo American pursuant to this

right will be 1.1 times the volume weighted average trading price of

Nautilus’s common shares during the month of October, 2008.