Nova Minerals Ships Nearly 500 Tons of Antimony Processing Equipment to Alaska

en.Wedoany.com Reported - A barge loaded with nearly 500 tons of antimony processing and refining equipment by Nova Minerals has departed Seattle, USA, bound for the Port MacKenzie site in Alaska. The shipment includes crushing, ore sorting, grinding, flotation, and refining equipment, comprising over 40 containers and multiple oversized cargo units, with arrival expected in early September. Upon delivery, the company plans to commence construction of the Port MacKenzie antimony processing facility, targeting first antimony production in 2027.

This equipment shipment represents the culmination of Nova Minerals' procurement and logistics efforts over the past approximately six months. The company acquired a modern mineral processing facility that was recently decommissioned in North America with limited operating hours, supplemented with additional equipment sourced from other regions of North America, and consolidated the entire package in Seattle for loading. The purchased equipment covers crushers, ball mills, ore sorters, screening equipment, flotation cells, and related processing units, planned for use in the Port MacKenzie beneficiation and refining stages.

Nova Minerals completed the engineering design of the Estelle antimony pilot processing system in July, with the scope of work encompassing the Whiskey Bravo front-end treatment facility at the Estelle project, the Port MacKenzie concentrator, the Port MacKenzie refining facility, and associated supporting infrastructure. The Port MacKenzie facility is designed on a modular basis, with initial products including military-grade antimony trisulfide, and future expansion plans incorporating additional production circuits for antimony trioxide and antimony metal.

Land conditions at the Port MacKenzie site had previously been secured. Nova Minerals obtained a land use permit in October 2025 for a 42.81-acre industrial parcel to construct the antimony processing and refining facility. The company began delivering mining and processing equipment in early 2026, with portions of the mining fleet and crushing/screening equipment transported to the Estelle project site via winter roads. The equipment shipped from Seattle this time is primarily destined for the Port MacKenzie processing end.

The processing facility is planned to integrate with the upstream antimony mine development at the Estelle gold and critical minerals project. Project updates from August 12 indicate that Nova Minerals has transported over 50 tons of stibnite-rich material from the Styx target area to camp, with plans to process it through the Whiskey Bravo ore sorting facility to produce a coarse concentrate that will serve as the initial feed for the Port MacKenzie antimony pilot processing facility. The Estelle project's 2026 field exploration program concurrently operates three diamond drill rigs on an ongoing basis.

Nova Minerals' Phase One antimony development has received funding support from the U.S. Department of Defense under Title III of the Defense Production Act, with an approved amount of $43.4 million allocated to Estelle antimony resource extraction, beneficiation, and the downstream processing and refining system at Port MacKenzie. Company filings indicate that this funding covers Phase One antimony production development; upon completion of the Port MacKenzie processing facility, antimony trisulfide production is planned as the first output.

On August 31, Nova Minerals further confirmed that the nearly 500 tons of equipment is expected to arrive at Port MacKenzie in early September, with facility construction to commence upon delivery and Phase One antimony trisulfide production scheduled to begin in 2027. The company is also currently advancing Phase Two expansion plans involving larger-scale downstream processing and production of additional antimony products.