- Nautilus Minerals Inc., a Vancouver-based miner that explores for minerals on the sea floor, reports it lost $12.4-million (U.S.) in the third quarter.
The company said Monday the loss for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 was within expectations as the company is an explorer in pre-development mode.
In other quarterly developments, the company noted it had:
- $262-million in cash and cash equivalents held on deposit with major banks;
- Spent $19.2-million on exploration during the quarter on the world's largest commercial exploration program for high grade seafloor copper and gold;
- Obtained 11 exploration licences in Papua New Guinea.
Nautilus is the first company to commercially explore the ocean floor for gold and copper deposits and is positioned to become a world leader in underwater mineral exploration. The company's main focus this year has been the Solwara 1 project, off Papua New Guinea.
"The third quarter of 2007 has been very successful for the company with the completion of the 2007 drilling program and the focus of the company on the development of Solwara 1," said David Heydon, president and chief executive officer.