Photo by: Nautilus Minerals
TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The second of three seafloor production tools (SPTs) needed by marine mining project developer Nautilus Minerals to mine high-grade polymetallic seafloor massive sulphide deposits at 1 600 m below the surface of the Bismarck Sea, offshore Papua New Guinea (PNG), has been completed.
The TSX-listed pioneer on Friday said UK-based engineering firm Soil Machine Dynamics, of Newcastle upon Tyne, had completed the mechanical and hydraulic assembly of its collecting machine following the assembly of its bulk cutter, and systems commissioning had now started.
The collecting machine was the lightest of the three SPTs, weighing 200 t when fully assembled. It was designed to collect material cut from the seafloor by drawing it in as seawater slurry with internal pumps and pushing it through a flexible pipe to the riser and lifting system and onto the support surface vessel. The remaining water and rock would be sent back down another pipe nearly all the way back to the ocean floor.
“This is an exciting time for the company as we continue with the build of the seafloor production equipment while work has also started toward the build of our production support vessel. We look forward to finalising the assembly of the third and final SPT, the auxiliary cutter,” Nautilus CEO Mike Johnston said.
The auxiliary cutter was designed as the pioneering tool that prepared the rugged seabed for the more powerful bulk cutter.
Nautilus last month formed a joint venture (JV) company with PNG’s nominee Eda Kopa (Solwara) to develop the Solwara 1 project.
The company had entered into an agreement with Marine Assets Corporation in November to charter a vessel to deploy at the Solwara 1 project. The JV expected to take delivery of the vessel late in 2017.