TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Oct. 31, 2012) - Mr Geoff Loudon, Chairman of Nautilus Minerals Inc. (the "Company" or "Nautilus") (News - Market indicators)(OTCQX:NUSMF)(AIM:NUS) is pleased to announce that Mr Mike Johnston, Nautilus' Vice President for Strategic Development and Exploration has accepted the position of interim President and CEO, effective immediately. After more than four years as President and CEO, Mr Rogers has decided to return interstate to be with his family; he will however, remain a non-executive director of Nautilus.
With Mr Johnston's appointment on an interim basis, the Nautilus Board intends to undertake a formal recruitment process in order to appoint a permanent President and CEO for Nautilus going forward. Mr Johnston will be considered for this permanent position together with other candidates.
Geoff Loudon, Chairman of Nautilus noted: "Firstly, I wish to formally thank Steve for his hard work and dedication over the last six years, four of which were spent in the role of President and CEO. Mr Johnston's appointment is the result of his demonstrated leadership ability and extensive experience in mining projects. Nautilus remains clearly focused on the construction and delivery of our first project, Solwara 1 and Mr Johnston has the skills to successfully position Nautilus as the world's leading deepwater exploration and seafloor resource production company."
Mr Johnston remarked: "I look forward to continuing to work with the world class team that Nautilus has assembled and to build Nautilus into a major copper, gold and zinc producer."
Mr Johnston joined Nautilus in 2006 as the Vice President for Strategic Development and Exploration. During his time with Nautilus Mr Johnston has been instrumental in the Company delivering the first resource in accordance with NI 43-101 for a seafloor massive sulphide system and in obtaining the first licence granted to a publicly listed company by the International Seabed Authority. Mr Johnston was formerly the General Manager for Exploration with Placer Dome Asia Pacific, where he oversaw Placer Dome's exploration efforts in Australia and Asia and was a senior member of Placer Dome's exploration and Asia-Pacific operations management team. Prior to this role, Mr Johnston was technical services manager for Placer Dome at the massive Porgera Gold Mine in the highlands of Papua New Guinea, where he managed the technical teams responsible for exploration, geology, geotech and engineering within the 210,000 tonnes per day open pit and 3,000 tonnes per day underground operations. Mr Johnston has been involved in Papua New Guinea for 18 years.
With more than 25 years of experience in the mining industry, 11 of which were with Placer Dome, and a further 6 years with Nautilus, Mr Johnston, brings to Nautilus a strong knowledge of the mining industry, people, decision makers, and laws throughout PNG and the Asia-Pacific region. He also has extensive ore reserve and project evaluation experience, a track record of finding ore bodies, and a strong understanding of all aspects of deep sea mining, through his management of Placer Dome's involvement in the Solwara Projects.
About Nautilus Minerals Inc.
Nautilus is the first company to explore the ocean floor for polymetallic seafloor massive sulphide deposits and is developing its first project at Solwara 1, in the territorial waters of Papua New Guinea, where it is aiming to produce copper, gold and silver. The company has been granted all necessary environmental and mining permits.
Nautilus also holds more than 500,000 km2 of highly prospective exploration acreage in the western Pacific; in PNG, the Solomon Islands, Fiji, Vanuatu and Tonga, as well as in international waters in the eastern Pacific.
A Canadian registered company, Nautilus is listed on the TSX:NUS and AIM:NUS stock exchanges and OTCQX:NUSMF. Its corporate office is in Brisbane, Australia. Its major shareholders include Metalloinvest, the largest iron ore producer in Europe and the CIS, which has a 21% holding, global mining group Anglo American, which holds an 11.1% interest and MB Holdings, an Oman based group with interests in mining, oil & gas, which holds a 16.9% interest.
Neither the TSX, London Stock Exchange, nor the OTCQX accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. 
