FOR: NAUTILUS MINERALS INC.
TSX, AIM SYMBOL: NUS
June 20, 2008
Nautilus Minerals Inc.: Vessel Contract for Solwara 1 Development Signed
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - June 20, 2008) - Nautilus Minerals Inc. (TSX:NUS)(AIM:NUS) (the
"Company" or "Nautilus") announces that it has entered into a binding agreement with North Sea
Shipping Holding
AS ("North Sea Shipping") to provide the specialist Mining Support Vessel ("MSV") for
Nautilus' Solwara 1
Project in Papua New Guinea. North Sea Shipping is a leading Norwegian ship owner and operator
in the offshore
oil and gas industry. They will provide a 160m dynamically postioned specialist new build
ship, on a five year
charter basis with options to extend for another five years.
http://www.nautilusminerals.com/i/misc/miningsupportvessel.jpg
Stephen Rogers, Nautilus' CEO commented: "The MSV award is a key milestone for the Solwara 1
Project. Our
exhaustive and highly competitive selection process has yielded an excellent MSV which could
not be a better
match to the specified requirements. The working relationship developed with North Sea
Shipping through the
negotiation process has created a solid foundation for the future. The MSV award keeps
Nautilus on track for
commencement of production in 2010, subject to timely permitting and approvals."
North Sea Shipping was selected from a short list after a competitive engineering evaluation.The build of the
hull is already well advanced at one of Turkey's leading shipbuilders RMK Marine, based in
Tuzla south of
Istanbul. On completion of hull fabrication in July 2009, the vessel will be outfitted by
Astilleros Barreras,
at its Vigo yard in Northern Spain, with completion scheduled in June 2010.
The 160m vessel is 30m wide, has a draft of 7m and displacement of 14,200 tonnes. It has some
outstanding
features which make it ideal as a candidate for seafloor mining. These include a 400 tonne
heave compensated
crane which is capable of working at 2,500m water depth and total installed power of 21 MW
which will allow it
to satisfy both ship and mining equipment demands. The vessel can accommodate 120 people which
is more than
adequate for the marine and mining crew and has a deck area of 2,900m2 which will accomodate
the mining
equipment.
The value of the MSV contract is approximately US$125 million over the initial five year
period.
About North Sea Shipping.
North Sea Shipping is a leading ship owner based outside Bergen on the west coast of Norway. This family owned
business has been operating ocean going vessels for several generations and support vessels in
the oil and gas
industry since 1980. Today North Sea shipping is actively involved in sixteen vessels
operating in the oil and
gas sector as well as the cable laying business. For more information please see
www.northsea.no.
About Nautilus Minerals Inc.
Nautilus is the first company to commercially explore the ocean floor for gold and copper
seafloor massive
sulphide deposits and subject to timely permitting is positioning itself to become an emerging
producer in
2010. The Company's main focus is the Solwara 1 Project, which is located in the territorial
waters of Papua
New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean. Nautilus is listed on the TSX and on AIM, and has
among its largest
shareholders two of the world's leading international resource companies, Teck Cominco (7.2%)
and Anglo
American (5.7%). Epion (22.4%) is controlled by the founder of Metalloinvest one of the
largest and fastest
growing mining and metallurgical holdings in Russia.
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Nautilus Minerals Inc. (Toronto)
Investor Relations
(416) 551-1100
Email: investor@nautilusminerals.com
Website: www.nautilusminerals.com
OR
Australian Project Office
+61 (7) 3318 5555
OR
Numis Securities Limited (NOMAD)
John Harrison/James Black
+ 44(0) 20 7260 1000
Neither the TSX nor the London Stock Exchange accept responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this press
release.
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Nautilus Minerals Inc.
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