Diamond Fields International Ltd. has entered into an agreement with DeepGreen Resources Inc. and its chairman David Heydon, to jointly develop non-diamond marine deposits identified by DFI. Mr. Heydon was the founding president and chief executive officer of Nautilus Minerals Inc., the first company to commercially explore the sea floor for massive sulphide deposits, a potential source of high-grade copper, gold, zinc and silver. He was responsible for Nautilus’s corporate strategy, including the introduction of major resource companies — Barrick Gold, Gazmetall Holding (an associate of Metalloinvest, one of the largest and fastest-growing mining and metallurgical holdings in Russia), Anglo American PLC and Teck Cominco Ltd. as shareholders. In addition, Mr. Heydon led the initial public offering of Nautilus on the Toronto Stock Exchange and AIM, raising over $360-million (U.S.) in the first two years to finance development of the world’s first deep-sea copper-gold mine at a water depth of 1,600 metres.
Mr. Heydon commented: “I am excited to team up with Diamond Fields, one of the few established marine mining companies. We will be following the lead set by the offshore oil and gas industry to tap vast offshore resources.”
Wayne Malouf, DFI’s chief executive officer, said: “Diamond Fields previously announced that it was expanding its marine mining business and targeting opportunities globally. The company is very fortunate to be working with someone of David Heydon’s reputation and expertise in that endeavour.”
