Key points
- Mike Johnston’s departure as president and CEO of Nautilus Minerals Inc. was effective immediately.
- John McCoach, an independent director, was appointed interim CEO effective immediately.
- McCoach’s stated focus is to advance the company’s continuing capital formation program.
- Nautilus holds the first mining lease for polymetallic seafloor massive sulphide deposits at the Solwara 1 prospect in Papua New Guinea’s territorial waters and has been granted its environmental permit for the site.
Nautilus Minerals Inc.’s president and chief executive officer Mike Johnston will depart the company with immediate effect. Mr. Johnston will be replaced by independent director John McCoach, who is appointed as interim CEO, also with immediate effect.
Tariq Al Barwani, Nautilus’s chairman, said: “We thank Mike for his long service with Nautilus Minerals. Mike was one of the original members of the Nautilus team with the vision that the future of mining would include the seafloor.”
Mr. McCoach has been appointed interim CEO. Mr. McCoach’s focus will be to advance Nautilus’s continuing capital formation program. Mr. McCoach said, “I am confident that the Nautilus’s senior management will continue to operate the company in a professional manner, and the entire Nautilus team will see us through to our vision of becoming the world’s leading seafloor mining company.”
About Nautilus Minerals Inc.
Nautilus is the first company to explore the ocean floor for polymetallic seafloor massive sulphide deposits. Nautilus was granted the first mining lease for such deposits at the prospect known as Solwara 1, in the territorial waters of Papua New Guinea, where it is aiming to produce copper, gold and silver. The company has also been granted its environmental permit for this site.
