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Exploration
 
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NAUTILUS 2008 EXPLORATION PROGRAM The 2008 exploration program will focus on expanding the Nautilus project pipeline further with a six month program planned for Tonga and Papua New Guinea. In Tonga, the principal focus will be the Valu Fa ridge, a 300km zone containing a number of known high-grade mineralised systems. In PNG, the focus will be on the prospective brownfield terrain in the vicinity of Solwara 1 and 4. Nautilus signed a contract with Canyon to provide the vessel, Remote Operate Vehicle (ROV) and drilling equipment for the 2008 exploration and environmental programs. Canyon's successful competitive bid, gives Nautilus the same successful teams that executed the 2007 exploration program. In 2008 the teams will be adding our improved electromagnetic and geophysical capability to their "tool kits", as well as 75,000 km2 of highly prospective ground in Tonga, where researchers have already found in-excess of 12 SMS systems. The 2008 operating vessel will be the Nor Sky. The combination of this Nautilus managed program with programs being managed by Teck Cominco Limited ensures Nautilus' shareholders will see aggressive exploration being undertaken in 2008 over most of our 154,000 km2 of granted exploration titles. This program will have the potential to increase our resource inventory and deepen our project pipeline. TECK COMINCO LIMITED 2008 EXPLORATION PROGRAM Teck Cominco Limited (Teck Cominco) is conducting an offshore exploration program over Nautilus' exploration tenements in the territorial waters of PNG and the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Tonga in 2008. At the completion of this program Teck Cominco will have the right to elect to enter into joint ventures with Nautilus in up to six countries, earning between 40% and 50% (depending on the country) by the expenditure of US$25 million in that specific country area (March 31, 2008). Phase 1 Teck Cominco completed the first phase of its $US12 million 2008 offshore exploration program May 7, 2008 with the demobilisation of the MV Sepura in Port Moresby. This phase involved a 28-day bathymetric mapping program within the territorial waters of PNG that was designed to define targets for subsequent geochemical surveying and ROV based sampling. The dedicated crew of technical, safety, and logistics personnel has been able to complete this program on time and under budget, without a single lost time injury or safety incident and with greater seabed coverage than was originally planned. We are excited by both the quality of the data and the results which are a significant improvement on previous data sets. Teck Cominco geologists and geophysicists worked with Nautilus personnel to interpret this new data and prioritise targets for Phase 2. Phase 2 Teck Cominco commenced Phase 2 May 15, 2008 with the departure from Singapore of the vessel DEA Surveyor. This 150-day program will involve geochemical surveying and sampling, and ROV based sampling in PNG and Tonga. Part of this program will involve following up on targets defined by surveys completed by the MV Sepura in PNG in Phase 1. MARINE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCHER COLLABORATION Teck Cominco and Nautilus also plan to collaborate with several marine scientific research organisations to increase the data coverage over Nautilus's PNG and Tongan holdings. | | |
