Nautilus Minerals will take over offshore development aspects of the Solwara 1 project in Papua New Guinea following the lapse of an agreement with Belgium-based dredging company Jan De Nul.

Nautilus CEO David Heydon says: "The company's project development team, led by Steve Rogers, former CEO of Clough Limited's oil and gas business, will now deal directly with the suppliers of the specialized equipment required for mining and raising the ore. We will retain international engineering contractors to act as owner's engineers in the development program.

"While the agreement with Jan de Nul called for the construction of a new build ship, Nautilus is now scoping other mining platforms, including the modification of existing vessels and barges, to suit its planned production rates and development time line. This may be a more flexible and more cost effective solution than the previous approach."

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 is the Solwara 1 Project in the territorial waters of Papua New Guinea between the island chains of New Britain and New Ireland.