Nautilus Minerals has cleared certain statements and press coverage related to its Solwara 1 Project. The firm stated once again that the State of Papua New Guinea had granted the Mining Lease back in January 2011. Contrary to the information which was reported in several news articles, this grant is not the latest development.
In a recent interview, the CEO of Nautilus Minerals, Stephen Rogers had stated that the company is discussing with prospective partners to divest a stake in the project, and in case of unavailability of potential partners, the shares will be sold by the company to raise $100 million.
Once the details of the vessel financing are completed and the present disagreement with the PNG government is resolved, Nautilus Minerals will determine its exact funding needs. The firm is continuing its efforts on these issues.
At the end of June, about 51% of the project equipment was completed. Earlier in the Management's Discussion and Analysis report which was submitted along with financial results on 2 August, 2012, Nautilus Minerals had declared that it may have to depend on the equity markets to fund for its Solwara 1 project in the future, or alternatively it will look for other financing options through joint ventures. This declaration is in line with Roger's statements.
Discussion and analysis of the management as well as the financial statements can be viewed at the company’s website. The same have been filed on www.sedar.com.