Nautilus Completes Assembly of the SSLP and Commences FAT

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Feb 4, 2016) - Nautilus Minerals Inc. (TSX:NUS)(OTCQX:NUSMF)(OTC:NUSMF Nasdaq Intl Designation) (the "Company" or "Nautilus") announces that the Solwara 1 Joint Venture (comprising Nautilus 85% and Eda Kopa (Solwara) Limited 15%) has been advised that Factory Acceptance Testing ("FAT") on the Subsea Slurry and Lift Pump ("SSLP") has commenced at the GE Oil & Gas manufacturing facility in Houston, USA.

Mike Johnston, Nautilus' CEO, commented, "The SSLP is a key element of the Solwara 1 Joint Venture's seafloor production system, enabling us to transfer the mineralized material as a slurry from the seafloor to the Production Support Vessel ('PSV') with no interaction with the overlying water column. We look forward to successfully completing FAT on the SSLP and taking delivery of the pump later this year."

SSLP: What does it do?

The SSLP and riser system transfer the mineralized material as slurry from the deep ocean up onto the PSV, where the mineralized solids are removed. The return water is then filtered to 8 microns, and transferred back down to the pump via the auxiliary riser pipes where it is released back into the same environment from which it originally came.

GE Oil and Gas produces positive displacement pumps like the SSLP for the offshore oil and gas industry, where amongst other things, they are used to help limit the environmental impacts of drill cuttings in deep water drilling operations by helping recover the cuttings for eventual storage on land.

Nautilus is proud to have GE Oil and Gas as a key service provider to the Solwara 1 Project. To read more on GE Oil & Gas please visit their website at: http://www.geoilandgas.com.

About GE Oil & Gas

GE Oil & Gas is inventing the next industrial era in the oil and gas sector. In our labs and factories, and in the field, we constantly push the boundaries of technology to solve today's toughest operational & commercial challenges. We have the skills, knowledge and technical expertise to bring together the physical and digital worlds to fuel the future. Follow @GE_OilandGas.

Links:

http://www.nautilusminerals.com/IRM/PDF/1534/NautilusSubseaSlurryandLiftPumpbuildtorecommence

An animation of how the seafloor production system works can be viewed on the Company's website:

www.nautilusminerals.com/irm/content/video-gallery.aspx?RID=421

For more information please refer to www.nautilusminerals.com.

Neither the TSX nor the OTCQX accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

Information in this news release about GE Oil and Gas has been furnished to the Company by GE Oil and Gas.

Certain of the statements made in this news release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements with respect to the completion of FAT on the SSLP and taking delivery of the SSLP later this year. We have made numerous assumptions about such statements, including assumptions relating to the funding, completion and operation of the Company's seafloor production system. Even though our management believes the assumptions made and the expectations represented by such statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that they will prove to be accurate. Forward-looking information by its nature involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results to be materially different from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Please refer to our most recently filed Annual Information Form in respect of material assumptions and risks related to the prospects of extracting minerals from the seafloor and other risks relating to the Company's business and plans for development of the Solwara 1 Project. The Company is assuming that the seafloor production system, including the SSLP, will operate according to the Nautilus specifications, that the FAT will occur as planned and the SSLP will be delivered on schedule. Risks related to such arrangements include delay to the planned testing operations of the seafloor production equipment, including the SSLP and a consequent delay to the commencement of seafloor operations. Risks related to advancing towards production include the risk that the Company will be unable to obtain at all or on acceptable terms the remaining financing necessary to fund completion of the build and deployment of the Company's seafloor production system. As the Company has not completed an economic study in respect of the Solwara 1 Project, there can be no assurance that the Company's production plans will, if fully funded and implemented, successfully demonstrate that seafloor resource production is commercially viable. Except as required by law, we do not expect to update forward-looking statements and information as conditions change and you are referred to the full discussion of the Company's business contained in the Company's reports filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada.

About Nautilus Minerals Inc.

Nautilus is the first company to explore the ocean floor for polymetallic seafloor massive sulphide deposits. Nautilus was granted the first mining lease for such deposits at the prospect known as Solwara 1, in the territorial waters of Papua New Guinea, where it is aiming to produce copper, gold and silver. The Company has also been granted its environmental permit for this site. Nautilus also holds highly prospective exploration acreage in the western Pacific (granted and under application), as well as in international waters in the Central Pacific. A Canadian registered company, Nautilus is listed on the (TSX:NUS) stock exchange and trades on the (OTCQX:NUSMF), and is also a member of the Nasdaq International Designation program. Its corporate office is in Brisbane, Australia. Its major shareholders include MB Holding Company LLC, an Oman based group with interests in mining, oil & gas, which holds a 28.14% interest, Metalloinvest, the largest iron ore producer in Europe and the CIS, which has a 20.89% holding and global mining group Anglo American, which holds a 5.99% interest (each on a non-diluted basis, excluding loan shares outstanding under the Company's share loan plan).

Contact

Nautilus Minerals Inc. (Toronto)
Investor Relations
+1 (416) 551 1100
investor@nautilusminerals.com
www.nautilusminerals.com
Principal American Liaison
Euro Pacific Capital, Inc.
88 Post Road West, 2nd Floor, Westport, CT 06880
1-203-662-9700
Attn: Thomas Tan
ttan@europac.net