Key points
- Nautilus drilled 99 diamond drill holes for a total of 1,475 metres during the program.
- 71 holes totaling 1,147 metres were drilled within mining lease ML154, which contains the Solwara 1 and Solwara 5 deposits.
- The remaining holes were drilled in exploration lease 1374, host to the Solwara 12 seafloor massive sulphide discovery.
- Nautilus has commissioned Golder & Associates to produce an updated resource estimate, with data evaluation results expected before the end of the year.
Nautilus Minerals has completed its 2010/2011 seafloor drilling program, with the vessel, REM Etive, having demobilized in Singapore on May 16, 2011.
During the drilling program in the Bismarck Sea of Papua New Guinea, Nautilus completed a 99-hole diamond drilling project, for a total of 1,475 metres.
Drilling was focused within the area of the mining lease (ML154) recently granted to Nautilus, which contains the Solwara 1 deposit and the Solwara 5 seafloor massive sulphide discovery. A total of 71 holes were drilled in ML154, for 1,147 metres. The remainder of the drilling was conducted in exploration lease 1374, which hosts Nautilus’s Solwara 12 seafloor massive sulphide discovery.
Nautilus’s chief executive officer, Steve Rogers, said the highlight of the campaign had been the identification of mineralization at depth at Solwara 12 and the improved knowledge gained at Solwara 1.
“We have commenced data evaluation and analysis and it is expected that results will be reported before the end of this year,” he said.
Nautilus has commissioned Golder & Associates to generate an updated resource estimate.
Technical information
Detailed information on the drilling program, including drilling results available up to Feb. 11, 2011, were reported in the news releases of Nov. 1, 2010, Dec. 16, 2010; Jan. 6, 2011, Jan. 25, 2011, and Feb. 11, 2011.
Qualified person
The exploration results reported in this announcement have been compiled under the supervision of Nautilus’s exploration manager John Lowe, a member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy with over 16 years experience in mineral exploration and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr Lowe has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure contained in this news release.
