Nova Minerals plans antimony refinery beside federally funded Port MacKenzie rail line

Nova Minerals, the company planning an antimony refinery at Port MacKenzie, told investors Oct. 21 that the refinery will sit directly on the 32-mile rail extension the federal government just agreed to help finish, with its own rail siding, a short spur track, running into the site.

The siding would bring antimony and other mineral ore from the Interior to the refinery, the company said in a filing with federal securities regulators. "Nova Minerals will directly benefit from the speed and efficiency enabled by the Port MacKenzie Rail Extension," said Christopher Gerteisen, the company's chief executive.

The same release identifies Gerteisen as vice chair of the Mat-Su Borough's Port MacKenzie Commission. In September, that commission recommended that the Assembly lease about 43 acres of port land to Nova's Alaska subsidiary, Alaska Range Resources, for an antimony pilot plant. At the time, the commission's agenda listed a vice chair named Christopher Gerteisen, but no record Alaska News obtained confirmed he was Nova's chief executive. The commission had published no minutes showing who attended or how members voted, and no record obtained showed a conflict declaration or recusal. The commission advises; the Assembly decides.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the $249 million grant to the Alaska Railroad on Oct. 19. It covers about 80% of the $311 million needed to finish the line between Port MacKenzie and the railroad's main line near Houston, according to the railroad's fact sheet. The other $62 million would come from the borough, in aggregate, right-of-way and other materials, and in cash from the railroad and the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority. State grants paid $184 million for the line from 2008 to 2015, with no state money since. With timely grant execution, the railroad expects to start construction in 2028 and finish in 2030.

Nova's antimony work is already backed by a $43.4 million Defense Production Act award from the U.S. Department of War for a pilot plant, which the company is targeting to start producing military-grade antimony trisulfide in 2027. Its release also points to the West Susitna Access Road, an AIDEA project that would tie into Nova's Estelle gold and critical minerals project about 100 miles west of the port.

AIDEA has also asked the state for 885 acres of nearby Point MacKenzie hayfields at no cost for rail support and cargo, land a Wasilla conservation district wants kept in farming. AIDEA's development plan for that land says it is intended to be multi-use rather than committed to one shipper.

Nova's annual report for the year ending June 30 warned of substantial doubt about its ability to keep operating over the next 12 months without raising more money, a warning common among mining exploration companies. It reported a $24.7 million net loss for the year, $26.8 million in cash and a $136 million accumulated deficit.