Work is proceeding to plan on the world’s largest commercial exploration programme for high grade seafloor massive sulphide systems being conducted on N autilus Minerals’ exploration licenses in territorial waters of Papua New Guinea. Nautilus has completed fieldwork for the environmental baseline study at the Solwara 1 Prospect and discovered three new sea floor massive sulphide systems, which the Company has called Solwara 5, 6 and 7. David Heydon, Nautilus CEO: “The discovery of a further three mineralized areas so early in our programme is an excellent hit rate and reinforces the prospects that we have for further discoveries within the extensive tenement and application package that Nautilus has assembled in PNG, Tonga and Fiji.”

The Solwara 5 Prospect is located at latitude 3.775°S, longitude 152.079°E, approximately 2 km to the northwest of the Solwara 1 prospect. Sulphide chimneys up to 2m high have been mapped, using camera and sonar instruments deployed from a Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV), protruding from soft sediment over a strike length of 250 m and a width of 150 m. Testing of six massive sulphide samples recovered from Solwara 5 using a hand held XRF unit (Niton XLT 592) indicates zinc mineralization is present.

The Solwara 6 Prospect is located at latitude 3.728°S, longitude 151.681°E, approximately 1 km to the east of Solwara 4. Sulphide chimneys up to 7 m high have been mapped, using camera and sonar instruments deployed from an ROV, over a strike length of 180 m and a width of 50 to 100m. Testing of seven massive sulphide samples recovered from Solwara 6 using a hand held XRF unit (Niton XLT 592) indicates zinc and copper mineralization is present.

The Solwara 7 Prospect is located at latitude 3.717°S, longitude 151.673°E, approximately 700 m to the north of the Solwara 4. Sulphide chimneys up to 18 m high have been mapped, using camera and sonar instruments deployed from an ROV, over a strike length of 200 m and with a width of 50 to 100m. Testing of eight sulphide samples recovered from Solwara 7 using a Niton XLT 592 provided indicates zinc and copper mineralization is present.

Samples from these prospects are being processed on the exploration vessel and will be forwarded to ALS laboratories in Brisbane, Australia where the samples will be assayed for base and precious metals. Until these results are available a definitive statement on the grade of these prospects is not possible. It is estimated that these assays will be available in about 4 week’s time.

Nautilus has completed an environmental data gathering programme to provide valuable input to the preparation of its Environmental Impact Statement at the Solwara 1 Prospect. This work programme was designed by Enesar Consulting, a member of the Coffey Group, and a company experienced with permitting mining operations in PNG. The work was completed using equipment deployed from an ROV with observation and sampling conducted by experts from Duke University, Scripps Institution of Oceanography and CSIRO. All of the sampling objectives were met during the 30 day work programme which involved flora and fauna studies, baseline sediment sampling and water sampling.

Nautilus is also undertaking rigorous studies involving some of the world’s leading researchers to map the environment and to use this information to develop its proposed mining and development plans to ensure minimal and acceptable environmental impacts from development.

Nautilus has deployed two vessels to undertake exploration and environmental baseline studies this year over its PNG exploration licences; the 50 m vessel Aquila and the 141 m vessel Wave Mercury. The Wave Mercury is contracted to Nautilus from Canyon Offshore, a member of the Helix Group, and a leading provider of ROVs to the offshore oil and gas industries. The vessel has two Triton 200 ROVs aboard and is capable of accommodating 65 people.

The plan (and estimated number of days required) for the Wave Mercury is to:

1. Complete environmental baseline studies at the Solwara 1 Prospect (30 survey days)
2. Test new target areas for sulphide mineralisation (30 survey days)
3. Evaluation drilling of the Solwara 1 Prospect (60 – 120 survey days)

The environmental campaign commenced on 20 March 2007 and was completed on April 28, 2007. In excess of 550 biological, sediment and water samples were collected and 4,200 observations logged. The exploration target testing program commenced on April 29 and has to date tested targets in the eastern Bismarck Sea, with further testing planned for the Bismarck Sea.
The Aquila, which is operated by Williamson and Associates, is focussed on identifying new seafloor sulphide mineralisation systems by undertaking mapping and geophysical surveys of the ocean floor. A total of 4,150 line km of surveying is planned for five blocks in the Bismarck and Solomon Seas. To date surveying of Block 1 and 80% of Block 2 have been completed for a total of 1,500 line km of surveying. Targets identified by the Aquila will be followed up, where appropriate, by ROV dives from the Wave Mercury.

The Wave Mercury drilling programme is planned to commence in mid June and utilise two ROV Drill units. These drills will be deployed on the seafloor using the Triton 200 ROVs on the Wave Mercury to drill holes up to 17 m deep. The first ROV Drill unit has successfully completed factory acceptance testing and the second is undergoing factory acceptance testing.

Nautilus is the first company to commercially explore the ocean floor for high grade gold-copper-zinc-silver seafloor massive sulphide deposits and is positioned to become a world leader in underwater mineral exploration. The Company’s main focus for 2007 is the Solwara 1 project, located in the territorial waters of Papua New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean. The four largest shareholders of the Company are resource companies Anglo American, Teck Cominco, Epion and Barrick Gold.