VANCOUVER (CP) -- Undersea mining exploration company Nautilus Minerals Inc. [TSX:NUS] reported Wednesday a second-quarter loss of US$6.2 million, versus a year-ago loss of $1.8 million, as the company ramped up spending on exploration.
The Vancouver-based company, which has yet to earn significant revenues, said exploration costs increased to US$9.4 million for the three months ended June 30, up from US$317,000 a year ago.
The loss for the quarter amounted to five cents per share for the quarter compared with four cents a year ago when the company had fewer shares outstanding.
At June 30, the company had US$272 million in cash held on a deposit that helped generate US$3.3 million in interest income in the quarter.
''The June quarter has been very successful for the company with important new discoveries and the continued exploration and mine planning activities for Solwara 1'' offshore Papua New Guinea, president and CEO David Heydon said in a release.
The loss was ''in line with our expectations and is a reflection of the investment and expense we are making as an exploration company in pre-development mode,'' Heydon said.
Nautilus was dealt a set back earlier this year after it failed to sign a detailed works contract with Belgium-based dredging company Jan De Nul, which was to build a 191-metre mining ship for Nautilus, forcing the company to seek alternatives.
Since then, Nautilus has take over the offshore development aspects of its Solwara One project as a result of the collapse of the Jan De Nul deal.
The company said its project development team will now deal directly with the suppliers of the specialized equipment required for mining and raising the ore.
Nautilus currently has a licence for exploration only and is undertaking an environmental assessment it hopes will land it an actual mining licence from the government of Papua New Guinea.
In its outlook, the company said it has budgeted to spend over $20 million on exploration and evaluation during 2007 on Solwara 1 and regional exploration programs.
Nautilus has several large shareholders including Russian investment firm Epion with 16.8%, Anglo American [Nasdaq:AAUK] with 6.4%. Teck Cominco [TSX:TCK.B; NYSE:TCK] with 5.8% and Barrick Gold [TSX:ABX; NYSE:ABX] with 3.7%.
Shares in Nautilus, which graduated from the junior TSX Venture Exchange to the main board of the Toronto Stock Exchange last Friday, were off three cents at C$2.94 in afternoon trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
(c) The Canadian Press 2007
