|
PNG - Underwater exploration of Nautilus PNG Solwara project starts |
|
Nautilus Minerals has contracted Canyon OffShore a member of the Helix Group to  provide the vessel, remote operated vehicle (ROV) and drilling equipment for a major exploration, evaluation drilling and environmental base line study program, which begins this month, at Nautilus"s Solwara project in Papua New Guinea.
The program, which will involve between 160 and 210 days on the water, will start with environmental baseline studies at the Nautilus"s Solwara 1 Prospect then move to geophysical target generation throughout the Bismarck and Solomon where the company will target further mineralised systems. Following this work, drilling is planned to start on the Solwara 1 prospect in early June 2007 to generate information for mine planning purposes. This drilling will utilise two ROV drill units currently being built by Perry Slingsby Systems Inc under contract to Canyon Offshore.
Nautilus Minerals president David Heydon says: "We are very excited about the extensive work program that we have planned for this year which will significantly advance Nautilus towards our goal of being the first company to produce copper, zinc and gold from seafloor massive sulphide deposits. "This work program is aimed at completing the drilling and environmental studies required, subject to Papua New Guinea Government approval, to develop the Solwara 1 Prospect. We will also focus on the discovery of further mineralised systems within our extensive ground holdings in both the Bismarck and Solomon Seas."
About Nautilus Minerals
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. |
Current News