Nautilus Minerals has made four senior management appointments to its Solwara 1 project development team for the Solwara 1 copper-gold project in the territorial waters of Papua New Guinea.

The new team has significant experience in mine development, project management, deep sea robotics, seabed mining and maritime commercial support which provides Nautilus with the in house management to develop the project.

Ken Adams has been appointed project manager - offshore having joined Nautilus from deepwater subsea intervention experts Canyon Offshore, a subsidiary of Helix Energy Solutions, where he was vice president for Europe and Africa. With more than 20 years of experience in the offshore sector in subsea robotics and the project management of deepwater projects, Ken Adams is ideally suited to lead the offshore components of Nautilus' Solwara 1 project.

Steve McLay has been appointed project manager - onshore with responsibility for delivery of the onshore concentrator plant. He has 30 years experience in the mining and infrastructure sector and was recently project manager for a $700 million plus contract for a coal port upgrade and has had long term experience in mine construction and operations for Mount Isa Mines.

Mike Frazer takes on the role of marine operations manager for Nautilus, providing input to ongoing exploration activities and the marine aspects of development of Solwara 1. He has most recently assisted De Beers Marine South Africa during the commissioning of their new 260 tonne subsea 'crawlers' and associated mining equipment that supports the largest mining vessel in the offshore mining industry, the MV Peace in Africa.

Harvey Askew has been appointed contracts manager. He has experience in the legal services and commercial sectors in the onshore and offshore construction industries. With a background in contracts negotiation, dispute settlement, marine construction, vessel chartering and capital investment in marine plant, he brings a blend of commercial and contractual skills to the team.