VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Sept. 8, 2011) - Nautilus Minerals Inc. (TSX:NUS - News; AIM:NUS) has received gross proceeds of C$70.5 million from the issue of the first tranche of shares forming part of the recently announced private placement.

A total of 27,987,853 shares were issued today in the first tranche at an issue price of C$2.52 per share.

The shares formed part of a total capital raising of C$98.1 million, before expenses, involving the issue of approximately 39 million shares. The remaining shares (approximately 11 million) are to be issued on October 6, 2011.

Application has been made to the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange for the first tranche of 27,987,853 shares to be admitted to trading on September 9, 2011. The shares also will be listed for trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Further details of the private placement are available on the Nautilus website: http://www.nautilusminerals.com/s/Media-NewsReleases.asp?ReportID=476612

The private placement has been made to provide funds for the construction of Nautilus Minerals' seafloor resource production system, which initially will be deployed at the company's first deepwater copper and gold project at Solwara 1, in the Bismarck Sea of Papua New Guinea.

As a result of the successful capital raising, Nautilus has today reinstated the Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Management (EPCM) contract for the supply of the Riser and Lifting System (RALS) for the project. The RALS will transport mineralized material from the seafloor to a production support vessel approximately 1600 metres above. The EPCM contract, which includes the procurement of RALS components, has a target cost of US$115 million. The contract is with world leading oil and gas technology company Technip USA Inc. It is the final contract to be reinstated following the partial suspension of the Solwara 1 project in December 2008.

About Nautilus Minerals Inc.

Nautilus is the first company to explore the ocean floor for polymetallic seafloor massive sulphide deposits and is currently developing its first development project at Solwara 1, in the territorial waters of Papua New Guinea, where the company is aiming to produce gold, copper and silver. The company has been granted all necessary environmental and mining permits.

The company also holds approximately 600,000 square kilometers 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 and AIM stock exchanges and has its corporate office in Brisbane, Australia. Its major shareholders include Metalloinvest, the largest commercial iron ore producer in Europe and the CIS, which has a 21% holding, and global mining group Anglo American, which holds an 11.1% interest.

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 completion of the private placement. 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 that the project budget is not an accurate estimate of funding required, or the private placement is not successfully concluded by some or all parties and regulatory approval in respect of the private placement is not received. 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. 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 Nautilus's business contained in Nautilus's reports filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada.

Neither the TSX nor the London Stock Exchange accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

Investor Relations
Nautilus Minerals Inc. (Toronto)
+1 (416) 551 1100
investor@nautilusminerals.com

Joe Dowling
Nautilus Minerals Inc.
Vice President Investor Relations and Communications
+61 (7) 3318 5544 or Cell: +61 431 365 741
jjd@nautilusminerals.com
www.nautilusminerals.com

John Harrison
Numis Securities Limited
Nominated adviser
+ 44(0) 20 7260 1000

James Black
Numis Securities Limited
Corporate broking
+ 44(0) 20 7260 1000