Rosenbaum reported in 2011 that the Canadian mining company Nautilus Minerals Inc.(Nautilus) is set to embark on the unprecedented extraction of metals from the sea floor. The mining project, known as the Solwara 1 project, will extract gold and copper from the floor of the Bismarck Sea in Papua New Guinea. It is the first of a potentially large number of deep sea mining projects within the Pacific Region, including others in the Solwara area. Nautilus is headquartered in Toronto, Canada, has regional operational offices in Brisbane, Australia and representation in Port Moresby, PNG and Nuku’alofa, Tonga. The company’s main geographic focus is the territorial waters and Exclusive Economic Zone of Papua New Guinea. Nautilus has been exploring the territorial waters off Papua New Guinea since 1997. It has been granted more than 158,000 km of tenements and a further 366,000 km are under application in the territorial waters and Exclusive Economic Zones of Papua New Guinea, Tonga, the Solomon Islands, Fiji and New Zealand. If granted, these will enable Nautilus to explore a total area of 524,000 km.
With over 250 deep sea massive sulphide deposits identified world- wide, mining companies are waiting to see how Nautilus fares before taking the plunge themselves. The focus of deep sea mining is the deposits laid down over thousands of years around underwater hot springs, or hydrothermal vents. Known as Seafloor Massive Sulfides, these deposits occur at depths of 1-2 kilometers and can range in mass from several thousand to 100 million tonnes. Hydrothermal vents occur in volcanically and tectonically active areas - along ridge lines or associated with island arcs or with seamounts. Te ecosystems at hydrothermal vents are produced by the rare combination of super-heated highly mineralized vent fluids, cold seawater and microbes capable of using chemicals as an energy source and a basis for making organic nutrients. As a result, vent ecosystems are rich in carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulphide,organic carbon compounds, methane, hydrogen and ammonium. They provide habitat for thriving communities of organisms. In recent years, they have been found to host over 500 species previously unknown to science. There is evidence to suggest that deep sea hydrothermal vents may be where life first evolved on earth. Vent fauna are highly endemic (not found elsewhere) because of the special adaptations required to live in an environment associated with high temperatures, extreme pressures and the presence of toxic chemicals.
Deep Sea Mining in the Bismarck Sea
Nautilus is the first company worldwide to commercially explore the sea floor for high grade massive sulphide deposits. In January 2011, Nautilus was granted a 20 year mining lease by the Government of Papua New Guinea for the development of the Solwara 1 deposit. The Solwara 1 massive sulphide deposit lies in the eastern Manus Basin on the floor of the Bismarck Sea at approximately 1,600 metres depth. The site is bordered on the north by the island of New Ireland and to the south by the island of New Britain, and is 50 kilometers north of the town of Rabaul in East New Britain Province. Nautilus plans to start processing ore in 2012, producing about 80,000 tonnes of copper and 150,000-200,000 ounces of gold per year over the estimated 2.5 year life of the mine. At current prices the project will generate around $US275 million in gold and $US783 million in copper.
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[Note: A 2018 Report from Nautilus Mining Activities: http://nus.live.irmau.com/irm/PDF/1974_0/PEAoftheSolwaraProjectBismarckSeaPNG]
The Nautilus Mining Home Page: http://nus.live.irmau.com/irm/content/default.aspx
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