2015 exciting year for Nautilus: Togolo
2015 is going to be an exciting year for Nautilus Minerals, says PNG Country Manager Mel Togolo.
Mr Togolo said this in a statement following the company’s deal with Marine Assets Corporation (MAC) for the charter of a vessel to be first deployed for deep sea mining or better known as Solwara 1 project in New Ireland Province.
MAC has since entered into a contract with Fujian Mawei Shipbuilders to design and construct the vessel. This vessel is expected to be completed by the end of 2017 in readiness for operation for 2018.
Mr Togolo said in an exciting news, the seafloor production tools are now assembled and entering the commissioning and factory acceptance testing phase. These tools will be deployed at water depths of 1600 metres during running operations.
“These are milestone achievements for the company (Nautilus Minerals) and ones which we are extremely proud of.
“I look forward to updating you on the selection and training of PNG nationals who will eventually become the operators of these incredible machines.”
Nautilus has been advised that the company will recommence assembly of the subsea slurry of the lift pump (SSLP) in July this year.
Mike Johnson, Nautilus CEO commented, “we are delighted to have been advised that the SSLP will be coming out of storage shortly and its assembly will recommence in July of this year”.
“The SSLP is a key piece of equipment in Nautilus’ plan to produce copper, gold and other metals from the deep ocean, with a very small environmental footprint. We look forward to taking delivery of the finished pump mid next year,” the CEO said.
According to Mr Johnson, these types of pumps for the offshore oil and gas industry are designed to help limit the environmental impacts of drill cuttings in deep water drilling operations by helping recover the cuttings for eventual storage on land.
Nautilus is the first company to explore the ocean floor for polymetallic seafloor massive sulphide deposits and is developing its first project at Solwara 1, in the territorial waters of PNG, where it is aiming to produce copper and gold. The company has been granted all necessary environmental and mining permits.
The company plans to grow its tenement holdings in the exclusive economic zones and territorial waters of PNG, 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.
- See more at: http://www.pngloop.com/2015/03/29/2015-e...AgGfG.dpuf
