Nova Minerals Lands Antimony Plant Gear in Alaska, Eyeing 2027 First Production
Key Takeaways
- All key plant equipment for Nova's Port MacKenzie antimony plant arrived on 6 October 2026, with construction able to start in coming weeks once remaining permits are received.
- A US$43.4 million U.S. Department of War award funds the critical minerals strategy, with first antimony targeted for 2027.
- Nova bought modern equipment from a recently decommissioned North American site to speed construction and cut costs, and has already extracted 100 tons of antimony ore for initial feed.
- About 8,000m of diamond drilling was completed at Estelle between June and September, with assays from Portage Pass and West Wing due in the coming months.
- Four Estelle infrastructure projects continue, including a C-130-capable airstrip lifting payload from 7,000lbs to 42,000lbs and an ore sorting facility at Whiskey Bravo.
Antimony plant equipment arrives at Port MacKenzie
Nova Minerals reported that all key plant equipment for its planned antimony processing plant arrived at Port MacKenzie, Alaska, on 6 October 2026. Construction of the processing and refinery facility can begin in the coming weeks, subject to receipt of the remaining permits.
The delivery supports the company’s plan to establish a secure, vertically integrated U.S. domestic antimony supply chain in Alaska, supported by a US$43.4 million award from the U.S. Department of War (DoW). First antimony is expected in 2027.
This is not the first shipment. It follows a 500-ton shipment of processing and refining equipment that arrived at Port MacKenzie on 6 September.
The latest delivery included:
- Two ball mills
- A jaw crusher
- An apron feeder
- Hydraulic filter presses
- Other ancillary equipment required for the antimony recovery process
The remaining shipment comprised another 10 truckloads. It follows more than 40 containers that arrived by barge on 6 September.
Nova sourced modern processing and milling equipment from a recently decommissioned site in North America to accelerate construction and deliver meaningful cost savings. For investors, that matters because it bears on both the timeline and how efficiently capital is used. Early earthworks are already underway at the site.
Christopher Gerteisen, CEO
“This equipment delivery brings Nova Minerals a step closer to establishing a secure, vertically integrated antimony supply chain for the United States domestic market.”
What the facility will produce
The facility is designed to process stibnite-bearing material (the main antimony-bearing mineral). Initially, it is designed to produce antimony metal and military grade trisulfide as part of the DoW project.
A modular design gives Nova flexibility to scale operations over time. The company has also extracted 100 tons of antimony ore to provide initial feed material once construction is complete.
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Why antimony matters for investors
Antimony is a niche metal, but it sits close to some big themes. According to Mr Gerteisen, the U.S. Department of War has designated it a strategic priority for national and economic security, due to its necessity in defence, energy storage and advanced electronic applications.
“Vertically integrated” simply means the company aims to control several steps in the chain itself. Here, that runs from mining at Estelle, through on-site crushing and ore sorting, to refining at Port MacKenzie, all in Alaska.
For you as an investor, the angle is positioning. Nova describes its critical minerals strategy as fully funded by the US$43.4 million DoW award, with domestic antimony production targeted for 2027.
The announcement does not provide market price or supply data for antimony, so this article does not attempt to size the opportunity.
2026 Estelle field season completes
Nova completed ~8,000m of diamond drilling at its Estelle Critical Minerals and Gold Project. Three diamond core rigs operated around the clock, seven days a week, between June and September.
The focus was infill and expansion drilling at the RPM gold deposit to advance the Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS), a study that assesses whether a project is technically and economically viable.
Samples and core have been shipped to the ALS laboratory, and the company expects to report results in due course. Assays from Portage Pass and West Wing are anticipated in the coming months.
| Prospect | Work completed | Purpose or note |
|---|---|---|
| RPM | **~4,200m** drilling, plus **~1,500m** near-deposit expansion drilling | Delineate the eastern strike extension at RPM North and increase resource confidence at RPM Valley. Expansion targets lie along the ridgeline north of RPM North. |
| Stibium | **~800m** targeted drilling | Tested gold and stibnite (antimony) anomalies identified in surface sampling |
| Styx | **~500m** over two holes | Test the 1m-thick quartz-stibnite vein |
| Train | **~475m** over two holes | Target a sheeted vein set where previous high-grade surface samples returned up to **128 g/t Au** |
| Stoney | One **415m** hole | Target the Massive Au-Ag-Cu-Sb bearing Stoney Vein |
| Korbel | PFS metallurgical and environmental studies continued | No drilling reported in this announcement |
Other activities during the season included:
- Detailed geologic mapping at RPM.
- Surface reconnaissance between RPM and the Revelation prospect, where previous rock chip assays returned up to 24.6 g/t gold.
- A detailed soils grid across the Portage Pass valley area.
- Detailed mapping and sampling at West Wing.
Nova states that Korbel will comprise a significant portion of the ore volume in any future mining scenario at Estelle. The Stibium and Styx antimony prospects are described as “progressing towards potential resource delineation and production”, which is not the same as having a defined resource.
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Estelle infrastructure and what comes next
Construction also continues across four infrastructure projects at Estelle:
- Korbel-Stibium access road: Set to provide year-round overland access to the northern prospects, including Stibium and the Korbel gold deposit, while reducing reliance on helicopter support.
- Whiskey Bravo airstrip expansion: The aim is to upgrade the airstrip to suit C-130 Hercules size aircraft, lifting payload capacity from the current 7,000lbs (DC-3) to 42,000lbs (C-130).
- RPM road alignment: The proposed alignment has been established, with initial environmental baseline studies completed in preparation for the permitting application.
- Onsite crushing and ore sorting facility: Steel fabrication and site preparation are ongoing at Whiskey Bravo. The facility will play a key role in producing a coarse intermediate concentrate for transport to the Port MacKenzie plant.
The ore sorting step at Whiskey Bravo is central to the flow sheet, since rejecting waste rock before transport raises the grade of the intermediate concentrate shipped to Port MacKenzie and lowers the tonnage that has to move.
Christopher Gerteisen, CEO
“Favourable fall conditions provide an ideal window for earthworks and construction, with these activities set to continue through the winter months.”
The next steps flagged in the announcement are:
- Receipt of the remaining permits.
- Start of antimony plant construction at Port MacKenzie.
- Assay results from the 2026 field program, expected in due course.
- Continued earthworks and construction through the winter months.
Ready to Learn More About Nova Minerals’ Alaskan Antimony Plan?
All key plant equipment has now arrived at Port MacKenzie, positioning Nova Minerals to begin construction of its antimony processing plant, backed by a $43.4 million U.S. Department of War award. With first antimony targeted for 2027 and the Estelle project advancing, the company is building a vertically integrated U.S. supply chain.
Discover how these projects could shape Nova’s investment potential by visiting the [Nova Minerals investor page]().