Nautilus exploration due soon: Togolo

NAUTILUS Minerals, the Canadian deep-sea mining company, will start sea floor mining exploration in the waters of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands soon.
Company country manager Mel Togolo disclosed this recently to the Madang provincial government.
Exploration activities are expected to be completed in December.
Nautilus has licences around Bismarck Sea and the Woodlark areas and parts of the Solomon Islands.
The operation will explore for deposits and will do “target testing” using remote operated vehicle (ROV) to test for metal content.
The company’s exploration vessel mv Fugro Solstic was due to call at Madang port yesterday.
Company manager for environment Dr Samantha Smith said the vessel was 70m long and had the capacity to carry 51 people at one time including 33 crew members.
The vessel was fitted with latest technology required for such a big operation, she said.