A mine plan drilling trial using new remotely operated deep sea drills at Nautilus Minerals’ Solwara 1 Prospect in the territorial waters of Papua New Guinea has resulted in completion of the world’s first NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate for a seafloor massive sulphide system.

The resource estimate completed by Golder Associates shows an Indicated resource of 870,000 tonnes @ 6.8% copper, 4.8 grams/tonne gold, 23 grams/tonne silver and 0.4% zinc, and an Inferred resource of 1.3 million tonnes @ 7.5% copper, 7.2 grams/tonne gold, 37 grams/tonnes silver and 0.8% zinc.

The estimate is based on results of 111 core drill holes drilled from the seafloor in 2007, surface mapping and sampling, and supporting information from 35 core holes drilled in 2006. It is further supported by an electromagnetic survey which effectively outlines the surface extent of massive sulphide mineralization. A cut-off of 4.0% copper was used.

Nautilus' CEO David Heydon says: "We are pleased that our mine plan drilling of a portion of Solwara 1 trialling new remotely operated deep sea drills has been accepted as competent to qualify for a NI 43-101 resource. This is a big step forward for this new industry.

“We are focused on outlining a pipeline of mineral deposits which we could aggregate over time using a mobile ship supported mining system. Apart from the Solwara 1 Deposit, we have identified seven other prospects in PNG and have title over at least 10 mineralized areas in territorial waters of Tonga.

”The Solwara 1 Resource is a subset of the Solwara 1 Deposit. It is open to the west and at depth where 38% of holes drilled this year finished in mineralization. The mineralized system is exposed at the surface and well supported by the electromagnetic survey which effectively maps the surface expression of copper-rich mineralization. This provides us with confidence in the extent and continuity of the resource. We are confident that additional drilling could quickly upgrade the resource in the inferred category if desired.

“The revolutionary Remote Operated Vehicle drill technology resulted in an improvement in core recovery (73% in massive sulphide) from previous subsea drilling systems. However, the design capability of this system was limited to drilling to a maximum of 19 metres. The company is working with its partners on developing drilling systems with extended depth capability to effectively evaluate the deeper potential.”

www.nautilusminerals.com