Nautilus Minerals is borrowing a page from the oil and gas industry’s playbook, and is looking to expand into deep sea mining for minerals like copper. Nautilus Minerals is hoping to become the first deep sea mining company, using technology that is similar to that used by the energy industry. CEO Mike Johnston said minerals from the seafloor are of much higher grade than they are on land. ‘The high grades make it a very competitive operation, in terms of cost, ‘ said Johnston. ‘The grade for copper is ten times what it is on average on land so it’s the grade that makes the whole thing work. It allows you to have a tight very compact footprint from an environmental point of view that’s great because we have lower CO2 emissions and we have almost no waste,’ he added. Johnston said copper would be shipped directly to China, where demand is high. Johnston said China is the largest consumer of copper in the world, accounting for about 40% of all consumption. He says he’s not worried about any potential economic slowdown in China and says the company currently has a contract with China’s largest copper producer. Nautilus’ mine is scheduled to be up and running in the first quarter of 2018. At the moment, the company is building the mining vessel in China, which will then be brought to Papua New Guinea, where the mining will take place.
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