Topic: How To Invest

Hello Pat: What are your thoughts on Nautilus Minerals? I realize it is very speculative, but would it have some appeal for a small part of an aggressive portfolio? Regards.

Article Excerpt

Nautilus Minerals Inc., $2.12, symbol NUS on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 155.6 million; Market cap; $329.8 million), is exploring for high-grade sulphide deposits on the ocean floor. These deposits often contain copper, gold, zinc and silver. Russian steel and mining holding company Metalloinvest owns 21% of Nautilus. Other major investors include U.K.-based Anglo American plc, one of the world’s largest mining companies, which has an 11.1% stake and Teck Resources (6.8%). Nautilus is mainly focused on developing its Solwara 1 project near Papua New Guinea. The company plans to use deep-water robotic equipment to dredge the ocean floor and pump the material to barges on the surface. From there, the barges will ship the material to an onshore plant for processing. Solwara 1 is still in the engineering phase. As a result, Nautilus has no revenue. It spent $5.6 million on exploration in the three months ended June 30, 2010 (all amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). Cash flow…