15 Feb 2011

Canadian company says drilling off PNG finds a second potential site

11:41 am on 15 February 2011

The Canadian mining company Nautilus Minerals has identified a second potential development project in the Bismarck sea.

The Papua New Guinea government awarded the Canadian company the world's first deep-sea mining lease last month to develop its copper-gold project by searching for mineral deposits in the Bismark Sea.

A statement from the company says a deepwater exploration drilling campaign carried out at the Solwara 12 prospect has discovered intersections of mineralisation at all five drill sites.

The Chief Executive of Nautilus, Steve Rogers, says the success of the initial drilling at Solwara 12 means the company has taken a big step forward towards building a portfolio of projects in the Bismarck sea, adding to its existing Solwara 1 deposit.

The company says it will conduct further drilling at Solwara 12, with the aim of establishing a resource.