News

March 31, 2009

Nautilus Is Positioning Itself Shrewdly For The Eventual Upturn In Metal Prices

By Charles Wyatt

AIM and TSX listed Nautilus Minerals is at the cutting edge of new subsea mining technology. When in such a position it is vital that a company maintains a high level of communication with its shareholders as they need to be comforted about the risk/reward ratio. In the case of Nautilus the reward is clear to see. Essentially it is going to be mining sulphide massive systems from the seafloor which have resulted from volcanic activity. These systems contain high grade gold and copper as well as other metals such as zinc and silver, but are not massive in terms of tonnes. The secret is that they occur in clusters just as volcanic massive sulphides do on land, so the mining vessel does not have to move far to maintain consistent production over a period.

The mining vessel and all its specialist equipment is where the risk comes in, as costs can be volatile. Back in June last year, the same month that Stephen Rogers was confirmed as the new chief executive following David Heydon, the man who brought the company to market but who has now retired, Nautilus agreed with  North Sea Shipping for it to supply a specialist mining support vessel. North Sea Shipping is a leading Norwegian ship owner and operator in the offshore...