US-backed antimony hub in Alaska takes major step toward 2027 production

Nova Minerals (Nova) reports it is close to producing antimony from its Alaskan mining project thanks to a $43.4 million with the U.S. government. Key refining equipment is now on its way to the company’s Port MacKenzie plant site. For reference, antimony is a relatively scarce metal/mineral used in things like flame retardants, batteries, electronics, and defense applications. At present, the U.S. is heavily dependent on foreign antimony supply, particularly China, so Washington wants domestic sources and processing capacity. This is something the U.S. government is particularly concerned with, hence its willingness to help grease the wheels for Nova. Once installed, Nova’s new plant will enable it to establish what it calls “a fully secure, vertically integrated antimony supply chain in Alaska.” Nova currently has an exploration and mining project called Estelle in Alaska, which contains something called stibnite (Sb₂S₃), an important antimony-bearing ore. To attempt to refine this, Nova has bought a decommissioned existing plant plus other equipment. Putting U.S. antimony supply on the map This includes equipment like crushers to break down the ore and ore sorters to “filter” out promising mineral-bearing chunks. Equipment also includes mills to grind ore into finer pieces, and flotation equipment to separate the stibnite. The new plant will also feature refining equipment to convert the ore into a more useful form of antimony for sale. All-in, the equipment weighs almost 500 tonnes and comprises more than 40 shipping containers and several oversized loads. According to Nova, the shipment of equipment left Seattle by barge on August 26 and should arrive at Port MacKenzie, Alaska, in early September. This is seen as a major milestone for the company’s ambitions in the region. As it stands, Nova plans to mine stibnite from its Estelle project and transfer the raw material to its new Port MacKenzie site for processing. There, Nova will focus on the production of something called antimony trisulfide. This is a high-purity form of antimony which has defense uses, particularly in primers, ammunition and pyrotechnic compositions. According to the company, it later hopes to produce other forms of antimony products, including antimony metal and antimony trioxide (Sb₂O₃). The former has important applications in alloys and batteries, while the latter is another major commercial antimony product, particularly for flame-retardant systems. Interestingly, the press release also makes mention of the new facility being a “toll-treatment facility. A major milestone for Nova That means the plant might not be restricted to the use of Nova’s own ore only. Other mining companies could, in theory, send their antimony-bearing materials to the plant for processing too. If realized, this could make the plant something of an Alaskan antimony processing hub, not just a Nova-exclusive plant. “The shipment of this equipment marks an important milestone as Nova advances from exploration and development toward antimony production at Estelle,” Nova Minerals CEO, Mr Christopher Gerteisen, said in a press release. “A key part of our strategy has been to acquire existing, modern processing equipment and mobilize it to Alaska, rather than build new equipment from scratch. That decision allowed us to move faster and more cost-effectively as we construct our processing plant at Port MacKenzie and work toward first antimony production in 2027,” he added.Get the latest in engineering, tech, space & science - delivered daily to your inbox.Christopher graduated from Cardiff University in 2004 with a Masters Degree in Geology. Since then, he has worked exclusively within the Built Environment, Occupational Health and Safety and Environmental Consultancy industries. He is a qualified and accredited Energy Consultant, Green Deal Assessor and Practitioner member of IEMA. Chris’s main interests range from Science and Engineering, Military and Ancient History to Politics and Philosophy.