Production date set for Solwara 1

THE K1.81 billion ($US580million) Solwara 1 project is to begin production in the first quarter of 2019, according to Nautilus Minerals vice-president PNG Operations Adam Wright.
The project will be conducted in the waters of New Ireland and East New Britain.
Wright said the PNG Government had a 15 per cent stake in the project.
He said Herman Sumun and Leslie Kewa would be the first Papua New Guineans to be operators of a project of this nature.
He said the production timeline for the project was for three years.
“Papua New Guinea is a shareholder and has a 15 per cent stake. That’s a bold move in the new industry and as a partner in a new industry,” Whight said.
“It also has a share in the intellectual property. All of the ideas, and all of the technology, PNG owns 15 per cent of that property. That means many years from now, when this technology is used all over the world, PNG will have a royalty in all those operations around the world.”
Meanwhile, Nautilus in a statement said the company continued to explore financing opportunities to maintain the development of the Solwara 1 Project and the company’s operations.
“The company requires significant additional funding to complete the build and deployment of the seafloor production system to be used at the Solwara 1 project by the company and its joint venture partner’s nominee.
“Based on the company’s current cash position and budget, in order to maintain the company’s operations and the development of the Solwara 1 project, the company needs to obtain new funding of about US$41 million prior to the end of 2017.
“In particular, at least US$15 million is required before October 31, 2017, to meet the company’s contractual commitments in relation to certain of the equipment forming part of the seafloor production system.”