Nautilus signs PNG seabed mining sales deal

Last Updated: Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:28:00 +1000

Nautilus Minerals has signed a deal to sell more than 3 million tonnes of raw material from its seafloor mining site in Papua New Guinea to Chinese copper smelter, Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group.

It is the first major sales agreement from what is set to become the world's first commercial seafloor mine.

Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group is China's biggest importer of copper concentrate.

The company has agreed to buy 1.1 million tonnes of ore a year for 3 years, with the first delivery scheduled for late 2013.

In a statement, Nautilus chief executive officer Stephen Rogers said the qualtiy of the relationship with Tongling provides further evidence that there is considerable interest in the seafloor massive sulphide deposits being found by the emerging seafloor resource industry.

The purchase price will be based on the quality of the copper concentrate produced.