en.Wedoany.com Reported - Nova Minerals Corp announced that the engineering design for its Estelle antimony pilot processing plant in Alaska, USA, has been completed, moving the project into the procurement and construction preparation phase. The pilot plant aims to establish a fully integrated domestic antimony supply chain in the United States, with production targeted before the end of 2026/2027. The plant design utilizes a proprietary clean hydrometallurgical process to treat stibnite-bearing materials and produce antimony trisulfide products meeting the US War Department's military-grade quality standards.
The engineering design for the pilot plant covers the Whiskey Bravo front-end processing site and the Port MacKenzie beneficiation, refining facilities, and supporting infrastructure. The project is laid out across two locations: the Whiskey Bravo site handles ore crushing, screening, sorting, and concentrate storage; the Port MacKenzie facility undertakes further crushing, screening, beneficiation, refining, and product recovery. Bulk samples will be collected from the Stibium and Styx locations within the Estelle project, transported to Whiskey Bravo for initial processing, and then transferred to Port MacKenzie via air or snow road. Refined antimony products will undergo filtration, drying, and bagging for transport. The facility is designed to be modular, allowing future capacity expansion by adding refining circuits to process feed from Estelle and regional or international projects.
With the engineering design complete, Nova Minerals has transitioned into procurement and construction preparation. The company acquired key equipment for a modern beneficiation circuit from a North American processing facility, recently decommissioned with limited operating history, including crushers, ball mills, ore sorters, screens, flotation cells, and conveyors. The company stated that this equipment is well-suited to the proposed antimony pilot plant process, expected to shorten procurement lead times and improve capital efficiency. Over 40 containers are currently en route to Port MacKenzie, with delivery anticipated in the coming weeks. The project has received $43.4 million in funding from the US War Department to develop a domestic antimony supply chain.
The metallurgical results referenced in this announcement are based on information compiled by Mr. Damian Connelly, a full-time employee of METS Engineering, a contractor to Nova Minerals. Mr. Connelly is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and has sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralization and type of deposit to qualify as a "Competent Person" under the 2012 Edition of the "Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Exploration Targets, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves" and as a "Qualified Person" under Subpart 1300 of Regulation S-K of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
Nova Minerals Corp (NYSE American: NVA | ASX: NVA), headquartered in Anchorage, Alaska, is focused on the exploration and development of the Estelle gold and critical minerals project. The project is located within the Tintina Gold Belt, which has proven gold reserves exceeding 220 million ounces and hosts world-class deposits such as Kinross Gold Corporation's Fort Knox mine. The Estelle project has defined two multi-million-ounce gold resources and boasts over 20 exploration targets along a 35-kilometer mineralized trend.
