Barnacles attached to hydrothermal vent spires feeding at Kawio Barat. Critics of the Solwara 1 project raised concerns about its potential impact on the ecosystems that center on hydrothermal vents. Image courtesy of NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, INDEX-SATAL 2010

After the loss of a ship, deep sea mining plans for PNG founder

David Hutt for Monga Bay | 26 December 2018 An ambitious plan to mine precious minerals from the ocean floor off the coast of Papua New Guinea looks to have run aground due to the developer’s financial problems. In 2011, the government of Papua New Guinea granted Canada-based Nautilus Minerals a 20-year mining license covering […]

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The MV Nor Sky, a vessel chartered in 2008 by Nautilus Minerals to conduct environmental assessment at Solwara I, steams past the Tavurvur volcano near Rabaul. 

For Nautilus Minerals, the debt comes due.

2018 was supposed to be the year for Nautilus Minerals. Their three seafloor production tools—large underwater robots capable of mining seafloor massive sulphides from 1600 meters depth—were finally in hand and undergoing submerged testing. Their ship, the Nautilus New Era, was nearing completion. They had only a few hurdles left to clear before beginning production […]

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Fig 3. Examples of metazoan megafauna photographed at the APEI6 seafloor during AUV survey. Scale bars representing 50 mm. (a) Actiniaria msp-6. (b) Actiniaria msp-13. (c) Bathygorgia cf. profunda. (d) Abyssopathes cf. lyra. (e) Left: Chonelasma sp.; right: Hyalonema sp. (f) Cladorhiza cf. kensmithi. (g) Bathystylodactylus cf. echinus. (h) Nematocarcinus sp. (i) Sabellida msp-1 (polychaete). (j) Left: Freyastera sp.; right: Caulophacus sp. (k) Psychropotes cf. longicauda. (l) Benthodytes cf. typica. (m) Coryphaenoides sp. (n) Typhlonus nasus. o and p: probable new Mastigoteuthis sp. Same specimen photographed with different cameras: (o) vertical view; (p) oblique view (Image taken ∼1″ prior to the vertical shot).

A year of discovery in the deep sea

2018 was a banner year for studies highlighting the importance of hydrothermal vents not just to the highly specialized communities that thrive around seafloor massive sulphides, but also to the surrounding benthic community. Vents provide nursery grounds for octopuses and deep-sea skates, but they also provide food for deep-sea and shallow water animals. At shallow-water […]

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Big Month at Nautilus

Big Month at Nautilus

F ebruary 2018 was a gold star month for Nautilus Minerals, with significant advances made on seafloor production tool operations, vessel construction and both financial and organizational stability.  The month’s progress renews confidence that the controversial Solwara 1 deep sea mining project in Papua New Guinea’s Bismarck Sea remains viable and on track for projected […]

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Nautilus Granted New Explorati on License; Includes New Targets Seabed exploration maps

Nautilus Reveals New Seabed Exploration Maps

Deep sea mining company Nautilus Minerals announced on 9 Feb 2018 that the government of Papua New Guinea has granted them a two year Exploration License to conduct exploration activities on a 2,558km2 area within the southeast Bismarck Sea.  Along with the announcement, Nautilus revealed two new seabed exploration maps detailing seabed features and the […]

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Nautilus Granted New Exploration License; Includes New Targets seabed exploration maps

Nautilus Granted New Exploration License; Includes New Targets

Download the Nautilus Minerals press release Toronto Ontario, February 09, 2018 – Nautilus Minerals Inc. (TSX:NUS, OTC:NUSMF Nasdaq Intl Designation) (the “Company” or “Nautilus”) is pleased to announce that the Government of Papua New Guinea has granted a two year Exploration License to Nautilus which will allow the Company to conduct exploration activities on this […]

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