Nova Minerals says state approved its antimony mine and Port MacKenzie refinery plans

Nova Minerals Corp told federal securities regulators Tuesday that the Alaska Department of Natural Resources has given final approval to its plans to mine antimony in the western Susitna Valley and refine it at Port MacKenzie. DNR has not posted the signed decision.

The announcement comes less than two weeks after Alaska News reported Oct. 16 that Nova said its cash won't fund a year of its plans.

The applicant, Alaska Range Resources LLC of Palmer, is a Nova subsidiary, according to DNR. The agency's public notice covers state land about 80 miles southwest of Trapper Creek and private land in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough at Port MacKenzie.

Nova's release, attached to a Form 8-K, says the approvals cover mining stibnite, the ore antimony comes from, at the Styx and Stibium prospects, ore sorting at the Whiskey Bravo site and refining at Port MacKenzie. The company says the approvals complete permitting, about three months after it applied, and authorize construction and operation "over an initial three-year term."

The drafts DNR posted Sept. 11 do not match that term. The draft Plan of Operations Approval and draft Reclamation Plan Approval left their exact dates blank but ran from 2026 through 2031, and set the financial assurance bond, money set aside to pay for cleanup, at about $6.6 million. The reclamation draft bars operations until a bond is posted. Whether the term or bond changed cannot be checked until the signed decision is public.

DNR's public notice described the work in narrower terms than the company: "a bulk sampling program and small-scale refining pilot plant to test and determine the feasibility of producing antimony concentrate and refined antimony trisulfide." Public comment closed Oct. 12.

"Securing our final permits is a major milestone for Nova, moving our Alaska antimony project from development planning toward construction and targeted production in 2027," Chief Executive Christopher Gerteisen said in the release.

The company says a $43.4 million U.S. Department of War award funds the first phase and that major equipment is already at the project sites. Its annual report says the subsidiary received the award in October 2025 under the Defense Production Act for a pilot-scale plant to make military-grade antimony trisulfide.

The release says Nova has "all required permits" but does not mention the state air quality permit for the Port MacKenzie ore processing facility, which the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation gave public notice of Sept. 14. Whether DEC has issued it is not established. Alaska News previously covered equipment landing at Port MacKenzie before its air permit cleared.

Under the drafts, an eligible person affected by the decision has 20 calendar days after it is issued to appeal to the DNR commissioner, with a $200 fee.