Nautilus receives Solwara project ecology permit

NAUTILUS Minerals Inc. has announced that the final environmental permit for the development of the Solwara 1 project in New Ireland province was received on Dec 29.
This was from the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) for a term of 25 years, expiring in 2035.
The environmental permit in principle was issued in September last year.
Nautilus chief executive officer Steve Rogers said in a statement: “The environmental permit is the culmination of many years of work by Nautilus and the DEC and paves the way for processing of the company’s mining lease application.
“The project team is working with the Government of PNG to complete the final stages of this process”.
In the regional joint venture, he said Nautilus was continuing advanced discussions with several parties in connection with a regional joint venture covering some of Nautilus’ tenements in the territorial waters of PNG.
Nautilus is the first company to commercially explore the ocean floor for gold and copper seafloor massive sulphide deposits and is currently developing its first project.
The company’s main focus is the Solwara 1 project, which is located in the territorial waters of PNG in the western Pacific Ocean.