Nautilus Minerals has started its 2007 exploration and development program with the mobilisation in Papua New Guinea of the 141 metre vessel "Wave Mercury" and the 50 metre Aquila from Washington.

Nautilus CEO David Heydon says the Wave Mercury will undertake the world's largest exploration and development program for high grade seafloor massive sulphide systems.

"This program will see environmental, mining and metallurgical studies completed on the company's 100% owned Solwara 1 project, where surface sampling in 2006 returned average grades of 15.5 grams/tonne gold, 9.6% copper, 138 grams/tonne silver and 5.1% zinc."

Targeted stage one exploration will also be undertaken on much of the company's large PNG landholding, and will involve technical input from representatives seconded to Nautilus from Teck Cominco.

The "Wave Mercury" program will involve up to 180 days on site, spread over three phases of work.

Phase 1 involves 30 days of environmental studies being undertaken by a team of world leading scientists from Australia's national science agency - the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, ENSR Consulting, Duke University USA, Scripps Institute of Oceanography USA, University of Toronto Canada, University PNG, and a specialist from Nautilus. This work will form part of the company's Environmental Impact Assessment.
Phase 2 involves 30 days mapping, sampling and detailed geophysical studies using one ROV (remote operated vehicle), evaluating strategic structural and geophysical targets generated from the current Aquila cruise and the earlier 2005/2006 Nautilus-Placer Dome work programs.

Phase 3 involves up to 120 days resource definition drilling, sampling and related metallurgical and mine development studies at the company's Solwara 1 development project with additional drill testing of selected regional targets. Drilling will be undertaken using new "state of the art" ROV mounted drill rigs that will be deployed on the seafloor.

The associated "Aquila" program involves approximately 60 days of geophysical target generation over a number of structural zones.

Some of the regional exploration work will be undertaken on the company's tenements that may be subject to joint venture with Teck Cominco. This work will be funded by Teck Cominco from the US$12 million it has committed to pay as part of an option to form joint ventures with Nautilus in the future.

Nautilus is the first company to commercially explore the ocean floor for high grade gold-copper-zinc-silver seafloor massive sulphide deposits and is positioned to become a world leader in underwater mineral exploration. The company's main focus this year is the Solwara 1 Project, located in the territorial waters of Papua New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean. The four largest shareholders of the company are resource companies Anglo American, Teck Cominco, Epion and Barrick Gold.

A third hold intersected 4 metres @ 1.0% nickel at least a further 100 metres below the second hole.

The new areas are accessible from the current mine design which will provide the drilling platform for infill drilling and reserve definition over the next 18 months of routine mine development. The North Avebury Deposit remains open down dip to the east and west.

Allegiance Mining chairman, Tony Howland Rose says: "These latest drill intersections demonstrate that the nickel mineralisation extends further north than previously recognised.

"This, together with the Pontiac mineralisation further to the north opens up a large area for further exploration. And North Avebury Extended holds the promise of additional resources at the mine in the near-term."

"Obviously we'll be going through the normal processes, and there's going to be a lot of attention on Mt Gee. We're going to be looking at the political, social, environmental considerations, but we'll just have to pay a lot of attention to them."

Besides Mount Gee, Marathon has other uranium possibilities. It has a joint venture with UraniumSA looking at the Kingoonya palaeochannel uranium. Also tenements in the Gawler Craton and northern and central Gawler Cratons which are prospective for iron oxide copper-gold deposits, which include uranium.

It has base metal and copper-gold deposits in the Flinders Ranges and a small gold project in western Victoria which it is hopeful may turn out to be a small gold mine.