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Business |
New industry seen in sub-sea
mining
THE latest drilling results from
Papua New Guinea's undersea gold and copper reserves are so
significant that they will be seen as a major landmark in
opening up a new industry that will stretch from Papua New
Guinea across to Solomon Islands, Fiji and Tonga.
That was the conclusion of David Heydon, president and chief
executive of Nautilus Minerals, the world’s leading undersea
mining company, after announcing the drilling results in
Vancouver last week.
In the past six months, Nautilus has discovered four major new
sea floor deposits in PNG waters and conducted 140 days of
sea-based electromagnetic survey work and ocean floor drilling.
Mr Heydon told Radio Australia’s Pacific Beat Programme, the
results of the drilling programme mean plans for PNG to be the
first country in the world to begin commercial seabed mining,
are on track.
“The drilling we have conducted is the world’s first, we have
used robotic drill rigs that has lowered to the deep ocean to
the sea floor and drilled this deposit call Solwara, one in PNG
territorial waters.
“It is confirmed that this deposits of high grade gold and
copper has extended to the seafloor, it extends to the seafloor,
it extends down at least 90m thickness, its very large.
“We believe that in history, we will be seen as the one of the
most significant discovery in the past 25 years in the mining
industry,” Mr Heydon said.
He added the discovery was opening up in the whole of the
Western Pacific.
“These deposits in my view we’ll be able to locate it from
Tonga, Fiji, the Solomons, Papua New Guinea and heading north
towards Japan.
“We have shown that we can locate this … it will open up a whole
new resort in these countries.”
 
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