Key points
- The auxiliary cutter is the third and final of three seafloor production tools (SPTs), joining the bulk cutter and collecting machine, which have already started factory acceptance testing.
- CEO Mike Johnston said the company is on track to complete testing and take delivery of all three SPTs in Q4 2015.
- The auxiliary cutter will weigh 250 tonnes when fully assembled and operates on tracks with spud assistance and a boom-mounted cutting head.
- The auxiliary cutter prepares rough seabed terrain and creates benches for the bulk cutter, while the collecting machine draws in cut material as sea water slurry and pumps it through a riser and lifting system to the vessel.
Nautilus Minerals Inc. has started the commissioning and factory acceptance testing of its third and final sea floor production tool, the auxiliary cutter, at Soil Machine Dynamics’ facility at Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom.
Nautilus’s chief executive officer, Mike Johnston, said: “We are very excited that the commissioning of the final of the three SPTs has begun. With the bulk cutter and the collecting machine having already begun factory acceptance testing and now with the auxiliary cutter under way, we are on track to complete this testing phase and take delivery of the three SPTs in Q4 2015.”
The auxiliary cutter will weigh in at 250 tonnes when fully assembled. It is a preparatory machine that deals with rough terrain and creates benches for the other SPTs to work. It will operate on tracks with spud assistance and has a boom-mounted cutting head for flexibility.
How they will work
The excavation and collection of mineralized material have been split into three individual tasks, which will each be carried out by a different SPT. The auxiliary cutter is designed as the pioneering tool that prepares the rugged seabed for the more powerful bulk cutter. These two tools gather the excavated material; the third, the collecting machine, will collect the cut material by drawing it in as sea water slurry with internal pumps and pushing it through a flexible pipe to the subsea pump and on to the vessel through the riser and lifting system.
