Nautilus Minerals Inc. will take over the offshore development aspects of the Solwara 1 project following the lapse of an agreement with Belgium-based dredging company, Jan De Nul.
As reported in Stockwatch news on Oct. 4, 2006, Nautilus had reached a heads of agreement with Jan De Nul with a view to formalizing a detailed works contract by July 1, 2007.
David Heydon, Nautilus chief executive officer, comments: “The company’s project development team, led by Steve Rogers, the former chief executive officer of Clough Ltd.’s oil and gas business, will now deal directly with the suppliers of the specialized equipment required for mining and raising the ore. We will retain international engineering contractors to act as owner’s engineers in the development program. While the agreement with Jan De Nul called for the construction of a new build ship, the company is now scoping other mining platforms including the modification of existing vessels and barges to suit its planned production rates and development timeline. This, in fact, may be a more flexible and more cost-effective solution than the previous approach.”
The company proposes to conduct a conference call on Wednesday, July 11, 2007, at 10 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss the current drilling program and development of the Solwara 1 project. Details of the conference call and presentation slides will be posted on the company’s website on Tuesday, July 10, 2007.
