Nautilus Announces Closing of Rights Offering

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - June 12, 2013) - Nautilus Minerals Inc. (TSX:NUS)(OTCQX:NUSMF) (the "Company" or "Nautilus") announces that it has received gross proceeds of C$40 million before expenses as a result of the successful closing of its rights offering through the issuance of 200,000,000 common shares at a subscription price of C$0.20 per common share.

Under the rights offering, 125,485,507 common shares were issued under the initial subscription with 25,136,966 common shares issued under the additional subscription. In total 150,622,473 common shares were subscribed for under the rights offering representing over 75% of the total shares on offer.

Mr Mike Johnston, Nautilus' CEO commented "it is very encouraging to see such a high level of support for the Company from its existing shareholders."

As previously announced, one of the Company's major shareholders, MB Holding Company LLC, through a wholly owned subsidiary, agreed to act as a Standby Purchaser in respect of the rights offering and purchased the remaining 49,377,527 common shares that were not otherwise subscribed for under the offering, in consideration for a fee of C$2 million.

The net proceeds from the offering will be used by the Company to continue funding its three key contracts related to the Seafloor Production System. The key contracts include the build of the Seafloor Production Tools by Soil Machine Dynamics Ltd, the supply of the Subsea Slurry Lift Pump by GE Hydril and the procurement of the rigid riser system by General Marine Contractors LLC. The Company believes that continuing with these key contracts will ensure the Company is in the best possible position to advance the Solwara 1 Project following resolution of the dispute with the State of PNG. To that end, the Company continues to meet with senior representatives of the State, including National Executive Council Ministers, with a view to amicably resolving the dispute as soon as possible.

The total number of issued and outstanding shares of the Company is now 436,772,865.

MB Holding Company LLC, directly and through its subsidiary Mawarid Offshore Mining Ltd, now owns 28.00% of the Company's shares, Metalloinvest owns 20.75% and Anglo American holds 5.95%.

The securities referred to in this news release have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons absent U.S. registration or an applicable exemption from the U.S. registration requirements. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

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 use of proceeds of the offering, the advancement of the Solwara 1 Project and the resolution of the dispute with the State of PNG. We have made numerous assumptions about the material forward-looking statements and information contained herein. Even though our management believes that 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 of variations and management's discretion in applying the net proceeds of the offering and that the dispute with the State of PNG will not be resolved in a reasonable period of time and may be resolved in a manner adverse to Nautilus. 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 to not be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Also, many of the factors are beyond our control. 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 Nautilus's business and risk factors contained in Nautilus'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 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) stock exchange and (OTCQX:NUSMF). Its corporate office is in Brisbane, Australia. Its major shareholders include MB Holding, an Oman based group with interests in mining, oil & gas, which holds a 28.00% interest, Metalloinvest, the largest iron ore producer in Europe and the CIS, which has a 20.75% holding and global mining group Anglo American, which holds a 5.95% interest.