The Supreme Court of British Columbia granted cash-strapped Nautilus Minerals Inc. protection from creditors, enabling the company to undertake restructuring.

Nautilus has been dealing with funding woes as it struggles to advance its Solwara 1 copper-gold-silver project off the coast of Papua New Guinea.

In a Feb. 22 release, Nautilus noted that it is not bankrupt and still controls its assets while being supported by Deep Sea Mining Finance Ltd., which has issued a total of US$18.3 million in loans.

After gaining court approval, Nautilus entered into a new interim loan agreement with Deep Sea Mining, which agreed to advance up to C$4 million to fund the company's operations and restructuring.

Nautilus also received US$750,000 from Deep Sea Mining under an existing structured credit facility of up to US$34 million, with Deep Sea waiving Nautilus' obligation to issue share warrants.

All of Nautilus' loans bear an 8% interest per annum, payable bi-annually in arrears, with a maturity date of March 8.

Nautilus said it is looking at selling its polymetallic nodule and seafloor massive sulfide business units to bolster its seafloor mining projects.