Nautilus Minerals has embarked on a drilling project at its Solwara 1 Project in New Guinea with promising results of high grade copper mineralisation. Nautilus CEO Steve Rogers said “a number of milestones had been achieved”. “The drilling supports our view that the Solwara 1 resource is likely to extend beyond the previously identified limits and remains open at depth. The focus now is to optimise core recovery and efficiency of the drilling system.”

Nautilus reported having drilled 23 holes at 13 locations, approximately 1,600 meters below sea- level and extending to a maximum depth of 52 meters below the sea floor. Copper grades of up to 31% were reported from the individual sample intervals and results included a 7.6 meter intercept averaging 12% copper. These results were based on the Niton XL3T 900s GOLDD  hand held XRF analysis.

A Niton XL3T 900s GOLDD analyser is used to obtain indications of grade of drill core. The Niton  analyser was used to take readings on the pulp residue returned from the SGS preparation laboratory for each submitted sample.

A suite of reference material, including certified reference materials are used to regularly test the calibration of the Niton XRF analyser with the results indicating that the Niton XL3T 900S XRF analyser is a reliable tool for providing indicative results of the tenor mineralisation.

The Niton XL3T 900S GOLDD analyser is used by Nautilus for rapid base-metal analysis at concentrations > 1%, where pulp residues are not yet available for a sample. The Niton analyser is used at the sample collection point for information on non-prepared drill core to provide guidance to the geologists onboard the vessel ensuring ongoing direction with the drilling program thus saving time and money.

For further information on how the Niton hand held XRF analyser range can assist with your exploration and general mining needs please  contact  Simon Bailey Sales Manager-Mining (0409 875 842)  or Wayne Roberts Marketing and Business Development Manager ( 0457 805 991)