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Seafloor Gold & Copper Exploration
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Nautilus Minerals Inc ("Nautilus" is the first company to explore the ocean floor for polymetallic seafloor massive sulphide deposits. Nautilus was granted the first mining lease for such deposits at the prospect known as Solwara 1, in the territorial waters of Papua New Guinea, where it is aiming to produce copper, gold and silver. The company has also been granted its environmental permit for this site.
The Company plans to grow its tenement holdings in the exclusive economic zones and territorial waters of Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Tonga, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Zealand as well as other areas outside the Western Pacific.
Listed on the Toronto (TSX), and OTCQX (NUSMF) exchanges, Nautilus has among its cornerstone shareholders three of the world's largest resource companies and its alliances and technical partnerships position it as the world leader in deep water exploration and development of minerals systems.
Nautilus Minerals was recently showcased on Innovations with Ed Begley Jr
which aired on the Discovery Channel. To view the piece video click here.
"The revenue that gets produced per square kilometer for an SMS deposit, is on the order of $10-15 billion USD" -- Mike Johnson, CEO Nautilus Minerals
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03-15-2015, 02:28 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-15-2015, 03:46 PM by maui4marko.)
Rock is disaggregated on the seafloor by large robotic machines that excavate material by a continuous cutting process, not unlike coal or other bulk continuous mining machines on land. The excavation and collection of mineralised material has been split into three individual tasks, which will each be carried out by a different Seafloor Production Tool (SPT) then pumped to the vessel through a riser and lift system.
Seafloor Production Tools
1) Auxiliary Cutter
2) Bulk Cutter
3) Collector Machine
The Auxiliary Cutter (AC) is designed as the pioneering tool which prepares the seafloor for the more powerful Bulk Cutter. The AC is a preparatory machine that deals with rough terrain and creates benches for the other machines to work. It will operate on tracks with spud assistance and has a boom mounted cutting head for flexibility.
The second machine, the Bulk Cutter (BC), has higher cutting capacity but will be limited to working benches created by the AC. Both machines leave cut material on the seafloor for collection by the third machine, the CM.
The Collector Machine (CM) will collect the cut material by drawing it in as seawater slurry with internal pumps and pushing it through a flexible pipe to the subsea pump and on to the Production Support Vessel (PSV) via the Riser & Lifting System (RALS).
Seafloor Production Tools (SPT)
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Auxiliary Cutter assembled & ready
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Cutting Machine Chassis Arrives at SMD
On deck of the production support vessel, the slurry is dewatered. The dewatered solid material is discharged to a transportation barge moored alongside. Used seawater is pumped back to the seafloor through the riser pipes and providing hydraulic power to operate the RALS pump. Discharge of the return water at the seafloor will avoid impacts to the warm surface seawaters, minimizing environmental impact of the operation.
The vessel will be equipped for seafloor resource production, onboard ore storage and other related duties. It will be stationed over the allocated area and support Seafloor Production Equipment (SPE), such as specialized seafloor production tools (SPTs): and a riser and lifting system (RALS) comprising a subsea pump, riser system and associated handling systems.
The vessel will have ore storage holds arranged amidships and will be equipped with a completely enclosed cargo handling system which will transfer the ore directly to any hold and from the holds to incoming handy size bulk carriers for export.
Meeting ABS Comfort Class notation, the vessel will be able to accommodate 180 people. The bridge deck will be arranged to meet the requirements of the ABS class notation for offshore vessels and suitable for unrestricted operation.
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30MW diesel-electric power plant
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Offshore Construction Vessel (OCV) for worldwide use
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Tier III compliant, work in and transport through ECA areas
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ABS DPS 2 EHS F dynamically positioned
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Two main cranes:
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200T AHC subsea crane
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100T ship-to-ship crane
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Charted for 5 years at $199,910 USD per day, 50% discount pre- and post-charter
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Option to purchase after 5 years
Delivery is expected 3 years after contract signed in December, 2014.
Riser and Lift System (RALS)
The RALS comprises a large pump and rigid riser pipe hanging from a vessel which delivers the slurry to the surface. The pump hangs from a solid vertical (riser) pipe suspended beneath the support vessel. The pipe is deployed to the seabed by a derrick and draw works system on board the vessel.
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GE Hydril 120T 10 chambered positive displacement pump
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03-15-2015, 02:29 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-24-2015, 11:33 PM by maui4marko.)
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Marine Assets Corporation
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Own, charter, and provide marine management of the production support vessel
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Located in Dubai, UAE
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NSW - Norddeutsche Seekabelwerke
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Design and adapt umbilical cable
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NSW is a world leading manufacturer of communications, submarine, overhead, power and offshore cables as well as engineering plastics and environmental products. For over a century now, NSW has been a pioneer in the area of submarine cable technology and communications.
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http://www.nautilusminerals.com/i/photos/umbilical.jpg
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http://www.nautilusminerals.com/i/photos...ical01.jpg
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Located in Germany
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Rolls Royce Marine
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Manufacture the engines and thruster packages for the vessel
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Located in Norway
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SeaTech Solutions
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Design the vessel
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Located in Singapore
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Auxiliary Cutter (AC)
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Bulk Cutter (BC)
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Collector Machine (CM)
The three-year deal with Chinese copper smelter Tongling will commence upon delivery of first product from Nautilus Minerals’ Solwara 1 deposit
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Nautilus agreed to sell ~1.1 million tonnes of material from Solwara 1 to Chinese copper smelter Tongling
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1.1 million tonnes per annum (+/- 20%) of Solwara 1 material for a period of three years on a take or pay basis
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Price based on of copper concentrate and market conditions
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Further value via 50/50 profit share for residual material, gold pyrite, masonry material, etc.
-- No tailings = green and environmentally friendly mining
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Nautilus will issue bank guarantee in 3 stages over nine months, not tl exceed $11.5M USD as security for 50% of Tongling's concentrator investment costs, starting at 1st order of major equipment.
Note: Above as of April 2012, Tongling contract revisions likely in the successive 3 years.
Mawarid Mining LLC (28%)
Mawarid, a subsidiary of MB Holdings Company LLC, an oil and gas, mineral mining and processing group based in Muscat, Oman, holds ~28% of Nautilus. The company became a significant shareholder in 2011 and later increased its stake in Nautilus Minerals in mid-2012 and again mid-2013.
Mawarid Mining was established in 1997 to explore and develop mining opportunities in Oman and internationally. It was the first private sector company to engage in the exploration and development of copper and gold in the Sultanate of Oman.
Metalloinvest Holding (Cyprus) Limited (21%)
Metalloinvest holds 20.75% of the Company's issued shares. The Metalloinvest Group is the largest commercial iron ore producer in Europe and the CIS, one of the largest steel producers in the region and the largest supplier of merchant HBI in the world.
The company extracts and exploits iron ore from the second largest measured iron ore reserve base in the world with approximately 14.9 billion tonnes of proven and probable reserves on a JORC equivalent basis and a reserve life of more than 160 years.
Note: The majority owner of Metalloinvest is Alisher Usmanov, a billionaire who is one of the richest men in Russia.
Anglo American (6%)
Anglo American plc has been a shareholder since 2006, and holds approximately 5.95% of the Company's shares.
Anglo is one of the world's largest mining and natural resource groups. It is a global leader in platinum group metals, gold and diamonds, with significant interests in coal, base and ferrous metals, industrial minerals, paper and packaging. Nautilus and Anglo have signed a technical agreement under which Anglo may assist Nautilus in its development of Solwara 1 and other projects by seconding personnel with specialist skills to the project at Anglo's cost.
Intellectual Property (IP)
In order to obtain PNG government approval, Nautilus was required to provide for PNG ownership of a percentage of the IP portfolio. The Mining Equity Agreement defines the scope of the IP ownership through the attachment "Confirmatory Deed of Assignment of Patents".
Parties
-Nautilus Minerals Pacific Pty Ltd (Nautilus Pacific)
-Eda Kopa (Solwara) Limited (Eda Kopa) wholly owned by Petromin PNG
Terms
- Nautilus Pacific is the owner of the Patents
- Nautilus Pacific has assigned to Eda Kopa an undivided 15% share as a tenant in common of Nautilus Pacific's interest in the Patents pursuant to the Intellectual Property Deed
- This Deed has been created to record the assignment of the interest in the Patents described above on the relevant patent registers throughout the world
Patents regarding
- a delivery method and system
- seafloor drilling and mining
- regarding subsea testing
- collection apparatus
- production support vessel
- seafloor stockpiling
Patent applications regarding
- seafloor mining
- seafloor stockpiling
SMD, Technip both provide for the initial 15% and up to a maximum 30% IP share for PNG. Nautilus paid Technip "a single royalty payment of EUR650,000" to facilitate the PNG share, but no royalty payment was required for SMD.
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