Things are definitely not going the way Nautilus would like. Losing financing and not being able to resolve a dispute with the government that gave them the green light for the first deep sea mining project in the world is posing some serious problems for the company. The dispute continues, now a former Australian chief justice has been appointed to resolve it. This sets their plans back months possibly longer effectively halting the Solwara 1 project in Papua New Guinea.
[Long spined sea urchins on a seabed. Nautilus hopes to start mining gold and copper deposits off the coast of PNG. (Credit: ABC)]
18 July 2012
Radio Australia
A former Australian chief justice has been appointed to resolve a dispute between the PNG Government and mining company, Nautilus Minerals.
The dispute is delaying the opening of the world’s first seafloor gold and copper mine.
The PNG Government signed an agreement with Nautilus last March to take a 30 per cent stake in the firm’s Solwara 1 site in the Bismark Sea.
Since then environment groups have waged a vociferous campaign against seafloor mining and PNG has failed to pay its share of the initial investment.
Nautilus and PNG both accuse each other of breaching the agreement.
In a statement, Nautilus says the parties have agreed to the appointment of Australia’s former chief Justice Murray Gleeson as arbitrator.
Arbitration will take place in Sydney and is expected to take several months.
Nautilus hopes to start mining gold and copper deposits off the coast of PNG next year.
