Nova Minerals Ltd (ASX:NVA, NASDAQ:NVA, OTC:NVAAF) has secured a major boost for its US operations, with its wholly owned subsidiary Alaska Range Resources LLC (ARR) awarded US$43.4 million (A$65.5 million) in funding from the US Department of War (DoW) under the Defense Production Act (DPA) Title III program.
The award will accelerate development of a fully integrated domestic supply chain for antimony trisulfide, a critical material used in munitions and other defence products, at the company’s Estelle Gold and Critical Minerals Project in Alaska.
Strengthening US critical minerals supply
The two-year agreement provides ARR with a firm-fixed price project sub-agreement to enhance the US defence industrial base by onshoring antimony extraction, concentration and refining. Funding is administered through the DoW’s Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Prioritization (MCEIP) directorate and awarded via the Defense Industrial Base Consortium (DIBC).
Antimony is considered a key strategic material for the United States, with applications spanning low- and medium-calibre munitions, semiconductors, energy storage systems, and other industrial products. Currently, China and Russia dominate the global antimony market, leaving US supply chains vulnerable to geopolitical risks.
Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy Mike Cadenazzi said: “Antimony metal and antimony trisulfide have critical applications in munitions, especially low and medium calibre, where it is used in primer production and case hardening. The award to ARR advances North American sourcing of this critical mineral for the defence industrial base.”
Phased development at Estelle
With the funding, ARR will undertake environmental studies to support permitting, conduct further geological and metallurgical work, and construct both a concentration plant and a refining facility. This marks the initial phase of Nova’s long-term strategy to establish Alaska as a hub for antimony mining and processing.
Nova CEO Christopher Gerteisen said the award underscored the strategic value of Estelle’s mineralisation.
“We are proud to have ARR partner with the US Department of War to help secure a fully domestic, redundant supply chain for the munitions and other defence products our troops need to keep our nation and allies safe, as well as future supply to the US industrial base for a wide range of traditional and high-tech applications, including semiconductors and energy systems,” Gerteisen said.
“This award will fund the initial phase of the company’s strategy to establish a full-spectrum state-of-the-art antimony mining and refining hub based in Alaska to supply refined antimony products to the US industrial base and beyond,” he added. “After conducting rigorous vetting and technical due diligence of the Estelle Project, ARR is proud to be the recipient of this award, which provides further confidence in the quality of antimony mineralisation and highlights the potential scale and scope of future antimony production from the Estelle Project.”
Gerteisen acknowledged the support of federal and state leaders, including Alaska Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, as well as local partners such as the University of Alaska Fairbanks CORE-CM group, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, and regional Tribes and Native Corporations.
Read more: Nova Minerals gains support for Estelle Project during Alaska visit
About the Estelle project
Located 150 kilometres northwest of Anchorage in the prolific Tintina Gold Belt, the 514-square-kilometre Estelle Project hosts more than 20 advanced gold and antimony prospects across a 35-kilometre mineralised corridor. The project already contains two multi-million-ounce gold resources and several drill-ready antimony targets, with extensive outcropping stibnite systems observed at surface.
The US$43.4 million award is one of 17 DPA Title III contracts announced in fiscal 2025, totalling more than US$850 million in government support for critical mineral and defence supply chain resilience.