|
MINING NEWS: Miner seeks mineral riches on ocean floor Nautilus Minerals, backed by majors with huge Alaska investments, posts first resource estimate in subsea exploration Rose Ragsdale For Mining News
If Alaska is the “Last Frontier,” then Nautilus Minerals Ltd. surely must be exploring what can only be described as the ultimate frontier on earth – the bottom of the ocean.
The Vancouver, B.C.-based junior exploration company earlier this year reported the first resource estimate for an undersea mineral deposit, ushering in what many call a new era in hardrock mining. The junior said it plans to develop substantial high-grade polymetallic (copper, gold, zinc and silver) massive sulphide deposits in 1,600 meters of water in the Bismarck Sea off the coast of Papua New Guinea within the western Pacific Ocean’s “Rim of Fire.”
Nautilus, one of only two marine mining companies in the world, is focused on the exploration, mine planning and development activities associated with its Solwara 1 Project, located about 50 kilometers, or 35 nautical miles, north of Rabaul township, the main port of East New Britain Province. The other junior is Neptune Minerals Ltd., which is exploring deposits in territorial waters off the north coast of New Zealand’s North Island.
In February, Nautilus reported a Canadian NI43-101 compliant resource estimate for Solwara I prepared by Golder Associates. Golder said Solwara I contains a substantial resource of massive base metal sulfides, gold and silver, and calculated an indicated massive sulfide resource, using a 4 percent copper cut-off, of 870 metric tons, with an average grade of 6.8 percent copper, 4.8 grams per metric ton gold, 23 g/t silver and 0.4 percent zinc. Golder also estimated a total inferred resource of 1,300 metric tons, averaging 7.5 percent copper, 7.2 g/t gold, 37 g/t silver and 0.8 percent zinc.
Subject to government permitting and approvals, Nautilus and its joint venture partner Placer Dome (now a part of by Barrick Gold Corp.), hopes to begin development activities at Solwara 1 in 2009 and first concentrate sales in 2010 from an onshore processing facility.
Nautilus is also exploring other prospects in the area, notably Solwara 2-8, in which it holds 100 percent mining rights. However, the plucky junior is actually backed by some of mining’s industry heavyweights, including three with substantial interests in Alaska projects - Anglo American plc, Teck Cominco Ltd. and Barrick. A major Russian miner, Epion Holding Ltd. also holds 22.4 percent of Nautilus’ common shares.
Moreover, Teck Cominco, which owns the Red Dog and Pogo mines in Alaska, also owns warrants for the purchase of a bigger stake and an option to fund joint venture exploration with Nautilus on a number of its other Papua New Guinea holdings.
Can undersea mining earn a profit? The big question for all of these companies is whether undersea deposits of polymetallic sulphide like those in Solwara I will yield the economic potential that they promise. The sulfur-rich ore bodies are produced on the ocean floor around the world. They occur in underwater volcanic regions and are formed when seawater seeps into the porous sea bottom, is heated and re-emerges through vents carrying dissolved minerals. When the hot water hits the cold sea floor water, the minerals precipitate, creating chimney-like towers called “black smokers.” Over time, these towers collapse and accumulate to form ore deposits, some of which are rich in gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc.
Scientists and mining engineers believe the potential for marine mining is vast, considering the earth’s surface is 71 percent ocean, and likely to be economic with the right technology. Though deep-sea mining exploration began less than 25 years ago, they point to the success of offshore oil and gas exploration which provides one-third of the world’s petroleum production some 50 years after explorers first moved offshore.
Proponents also point to the success of marine diamond mining, a $6 billion-a-year industry - dominated by mining giant De Beers - in Southern and Western Africa.
Other marine mining ventures include offshore tin mining in Thailand and Indonesia in the 1950s and 1960s, gold mining in Alaska for a few years in the 1970s, numerous sand and gravel mining campaigns since World War II in various countries, and a United States-led push to find and develop phosphorite (used in fertilizer and soft drinks) and manganese (used in steel), in the 1950s.
A commitment to frontier mining Teck Cominco spokesman Greg Waller told Mining News that his company invested in Nautilus Minerals because the major believes undersea mining, like other frontier mining ventures, has great promise and a great future. Other projects where Teck is pushing the envelope include hardrock mining at high altitudes (15,000 feet above sea level) in the Andes Mountains of South America and developing oil sands in Alberta.
“If we can find a way to work economically on the ocean floor, and we think we can, then we think the people who have the sea beds where good mineral deposits are located tied up will do very well,” Waller said.
One reason for this optimism is that undersea mining requires very little disturbance of the environment because deposits are already exposed on the ocean floor and little, if any, digging will be required.
Moreover, mineral vents like those in the South Pacific Ocean occur all over the world, including off the coast of British Columbia, he said.
“We suspect the potential is there for sub-sea mining in the Arctic,” Waller said. “The trick is to find vents that are emitting these minerals.”
|
