Nautilus Minerals Inc. has discovered an eighth seafloor massive sulphide system in the company’s exploration licences in the territorial waters of Papua New Guinea.
David Heydon, Nautilus’s chief executive officer, commented: “The discovery of a further mineralized area in addition to the three new areas reported on May 15, 2007, is an excellent exploration hit rate and reinforces the prospects Nautilus has for further discoveries within our extensive tenement and application packages in Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Fiji.
“To have discovered four new mineralized zones during a four-week exploration program highlights the rigour of our program and, the effective use of modern technology and techniques, and the potential for further discoveries in the region. The four new seafloor massive sulphide systems were located following the reprocessing by Nautilus of geophysical data gathered in 2005 by the company’s then joint venture partner, Placer Dome.
“Having successfully achieved our objective of demonstrating that our exploration techniques can locate seafloor mineralization systems, the survey vessel ‘Wave Mercury’ was brought back to the port of Lae, on June 2, 2007, in order to integrate new drill units to the two remote operated vehicles.
“The Wave Mercury will shortly mobilize and over the next two to three months will conduct evaluation drilling at Solwara 1 for mine planning purposes.”
Mr. Heydon added: “With the environment survey undertaken, the announcement on May 31, 2007, of the construction of the purpose built mining ship, the ‘Jules Verne,’ and the Solowara 1 drilling program about to commence, we remain on track for mining operations in late 2009.
“As we drive Solwara 1 closer toward commercial development the survey ship, the ‘Aquila,’ with its mapping and geophysical surveys, continues to build our future inventory of targets to test in the Bismarck and Solomon Seas.”
Solwara 8
The Solwara 8 prospect lies in a water depth of between 1,680 metres and 1,750 metres at latitude 151 degrees 40 feet 21 inches; longitude 3 degrees 43 feet 43 inches, approximately 750 metres west-southwest of Solwara 6 and approximately 47 kilometres west of the Solwara 1 prospect.
The Solwara prospect 8 covers an area of approximately 280 metres by 60 metres and lies within a north-northwest-trending structural zone approximately one kilometre south of, and possibly linked with, the greater Solwara 4 system.
Indicative analysis results from hand-held XRF unit
Using a hand-held X-ray unit (Niton XLT 592), 30 outcrop samples were analyzed from the Solwara 8 region. The X-ray florescence results produced a peak result of 50 per cent zinc in one sample and 37 per cent copper in another. The average for all 30 chimney samples was 9.3 per cent copper, 21 per cent zinc and 0.8 per cent lead.
The instrument used for this application does not provide the accuracy required to report assays. These analyses are the mean of 10-point measurements on unprepared wet surfaces of each of the samples reported. The instrument is not calibrated using certified standards and the samples have not been crushed and prepared to minimize matrix effects which may affect the accuracy of the analysis.
The XRF results for Solwara 5, 6 and 7 were announced on May 15, 2007, in Stockwatch.
SUMMARY OF THE SOLWARA 5, 6, 7 AND 8 SAMPLING
USING THE XRF RESULTS
Site No. of samples Cu (%) Zn (%) Pb (%)
Solwara 5 5 0.6 11.0 1.9
Solwara 6 7 11.3 11.4 0.8
Solwara 7 7 3.6 13.9 0.6
Solwara 8 30 9.3 21.0 0.8
Samples from these prospects are being processed on the exploration vessel and will be forwarded to ALS laboratories in Brisbane, Australia, where the samples will be assayed for base and precious metals. Until these results are available, a definitive statement on the grade of these prospects is not possible.
Exploration program
Nautilus has deployed two vessels to undertake exploration and environmental baseline studies this year over its Papua New Guinea exploration licences; the 50-metre vessel Aquila and the 141-metre vessel Wave Mercury.
Wave Mercury
The Wave Mercury is contracted to Nautilus from Canyon Offshore, a member of the Helix Group, and a leading provider of ROVs to the offshore oil and gas industries. The vessel is capable of accommodating 65 people. The Wave Mercury has onboard two Triton 200 ROVs to extract drill samples of up to 17 metres in length on the ocean floor.
Aquila
The Aquila, which is operated by Williamson and Associates, is focused on identifying new seafloor sulphide mineralization systems by undertaking mapping and geophysical surveys of the ocean floor. A total of 4,150 line kilometres of surveying is planned for five blocks in the Bismarck and Solomon seas. To date, surveying of four of the five blocks has been completed with approximately 1,000 line kilometres of surveying remaining.
Environment program
Nautilus is undertaking rigorous studies involving some of the world’s leading researchers to map the environment and to use this information to develop the company’s proposed mining and development plans to ensure minimal and acceptable environmental impacts from any development.
The first step in submitting an environmental impact statement to the Papua New Guinea government is to submit an environmental inception report which outlines the studies a company plans to undertake to conduct an environmental impact assessment of its proposed activities.
Nautilus’s environmental impact assessment has been reviewed by the Papua New Guinea Department of Environment and Conservation and was approved in late May, 2007.
Nautilus has completed fieldwork for the environmental baseline study at the Solwara 1 prospect in preparation for its environmental impact statement. The environmental survey campaign commenced on March 20, 2007, and was completed on April 28, 2007.
All of the sampling objectives were met during the 30-day work program which involved flora and fauna studies, baseline sediment sampling, and water sampling. In excess of 550 biological, sediment and water samples were collected and 4,200 seafloor observations logged.
The fieldwork campaign was developed in consultation with Enesar Consulting Pty. Ltd., a member of the Coffey Group, and a company experienced with permitting mining operations in Papua New Guinea.
The work was completed using equipment deployed from an ROV with observation and sampling conducted by experts from Duke University, Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Australia’s national science agency — the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.
Qualified person
The exploration results reported in this announcement 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 20 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.
