Antimony refinery developer Nova Minerals says its cash won't fund a year of plans

Nova Minerals Corp., which plans a federally funded antimony refinery at Port MacKenzie, told federal securities regulators in an annual report filed Sept. 30 that its money will not pay for another year of planned work.

Management said that raises "substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern." Its auditor, Grassi & Co., CPAs, P.C., added a paragraph on the issue to its opinion. A going-concern warning does not mean a company will fail. A year ago, when Nova was still an Australian company, its directors said they believed it would continue as a going concern, citing cash on hand and a just-closed offering.

Nova completed its move to the United States on June 16, and this is its first annual report as a domestic company. It ended its fiscal year June 30 with $26.8 million in cash, up from $5.9 million, after two public offerings raised about $34.4 million combined. It lost $25.6 million, up from $11.8 million, as exploration and evaluation spending rose to $20 million from $4.4 million.

Nova says it will seek stock or debt offerings and cut costs, and may have to curtail exploration and development. Its future depends partly on federal defense money. Its Palmer subsidiary, Alaska Range Resources LLC, received a $43.4 million Defense Production Act award from the U.S. Department of War on Sept. 30, 2025, for a pilot plant producing military-grade antimony trisulfide. By June 30 the company had invoiced $22.5 million and collected $17 million. The award ends Sept. 29, 2027, and could be modified or terminated. Nova says it has met its milestones so far and expects the rest to substantially fund the plant's remaining capital cost, but it does not expect material revenue from pilot production in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2027.

The report also discloses $1.4 million in commissions paid to an unnamed consultant for help obtaining the grant, plus $1.8 million set aside for warrants owed to that consultant.

The last plant equipment arrived at Port MacKenzie on Oct. 6, and Nova says early earthworks are underway, with refinery construction to begin after final permits are received. As of Oct. 16, state records showed the air quality permit still pending, and the state's plan of operations and reclamation plan approvals, covering bulk sampling at Estelle and the pilot plant, not yet issued.