Nautilus Aims to Resolve Dispute

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - July 17, 2012) - Nautilus Minerals Inc. (the "Company" or "Nautilus") (TSX:NUS)(OTCQX:NUSMF)(AIM:NUS) announces that in addition to preparing its response to the Notice of Arbitration received from the Independent State of Papua New Guinea (the "State"), it continues to attempt to work with the State in an effort to resolve matters amicably.

Nautilus and the State have agreed on the appointment of former Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, the Honourable Murray Gleeson AC QC, as the arbitrator. The arbitration will be conducted in Sydney, Australia under UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, and may take several months to conclude, provided that Nautilus and the State comply with the timetable set by the arbitrator and otherwise act in accordance with the Rules. The State has on 13 July 2012 also issued the Company with a Second Notice of Arbitration in relation to disputes concerning certain statements made by the parties and whether such statements were made in accordance with the Agreement dated 29 March 2011. The Company will respond to the Second Notice in accordance with the Arbitration Rules.

A resolution of this matter outside of the arbitration process will have to be ratified by the State's National Executive Counsel ("NEC"), pursuant to a recommendation by the State's nominated team. State elections are currently underway and it could be some months before a new NEC is formed and is able to meet.

Nautilus confirms its preference is to resolve matters without going through an arbitration process and it is taking steps to meet with the State's representatives with the aim of achieving this outcome.

The Company will provide a further update as the matter progresses.

Certain of the statements made in this news release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities law. Forward-looking statements and forward-looking information include, but are not limited to statements or information with respect to the resolution of Nautilus' dispute with the State. We have made numerous assumptions about the material forward-looking statements and information contained herein including good faith negotiation by the State and a shared determination to resolve the dispute. Even though our management believes the assumptions made and the expectations represented by such statements or information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statement or information will prove to be accurate. Forward-looking statements and information by their nature involve 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 statements or information. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include, among others, the risk that negotiations with the State are not productive. Should one or more of these risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements and information. Although we have attempted to identify factors that would cause actual results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements and information, there may be other factors that cause actual results, performances, achievements or events not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Also, many of the factors are beyond our control. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements or information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. 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 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 approximately 600,000 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% interest and MB Holdings, an Oman based group with interests in mining, oil & gas, which holds a 9.98% interest.