Nautilus Minerals Inc. has been granted 11 new exploration licences covering an area of 21,386 square kilometres within the territorial waters of Papua New Guinea (PNG).
The company also has received advice from the mineral resources authority of PNG of the renewal of EL1374 for a further two-year period, with effect from Sept. 10, 2006.
David Heydon, chief executive officer of Nautilus, commented: “The grant of the first of our 81 exploration licence applications made in late 2006 ensures that we maintain a pipeline of acreage to explore so we can build on the phenomenal exploration discovery rate we achieved earlier this year when we found four new high-grade sulphide-mineralization systems over a four-week period (Solwara 5, 6, 7 and 8).
“The area of exploration licences granted or under application in PNG covers an area larger than Greece, and maintains our first-mover advantage as the leading company in the world for the exploration, discovery and development of high-grade seafloor massive sulphide systems.
“Eight of the licences granted are subject to an agreement with Teck Cominco Ltd., as reported on Dec. 7, 2006, in Stockwatch news. As part of this agreement, Teck has seconded certain personnel to Nautilus to assist the company with its $20-million (U.S.) exploration program. Teck has also agreed to finance up to $2-million (U.S.) of tenement/licence fees and rentals along with $10-million (U.S.) of exploration, research and development, and the development of specialized technical equipment to further improve the cost of discovery of these seafloor massive sulphide systems.”
